| We would like to hear from
you... InishowenNews.com
Moville
Co Donegal
Tel: 074 93 81088
Email:
linda@inishowennews.com
|
Farmer banned from keeping
animals for life
26.07.07
AN INISHOWEN farmer has
been banned from keeping animals for life and jailed
for six months after his conviction for abandoning a
horse that was found dying in a quarry.
Joseph Glackin, Lisfannon, Fahan, pleaded not guilty
to the offences which occurred in June 2006. Garda
Gerry Vaughan of Burnfoot garda station told the
court he received a report of an abandoned horse at
a local quarry at Crislakeel, Burnfoot, on the
afternoon of June 21st, 2006.
When he arrived, he found the grey horse, "shivering
and wet" with ribs protruding and with blood on her
chest and one of her legs. He said there was no
grass, no water and no form of shelter for the
animal and he believed she was dying. His colleague,
Garda Patrick Henry, told the court he had never
before seen a animal in such a bad state.
Carrie Keogh, chief welfare officer with the Irish
Horse Welfare Trust, told Buncrana District Court
she travelled from the Midlands to Burnfoot the
following day to examine the horse at the request of
the Irish Society for the Protection of Cruelty to
Animals (ISPCA).
She said the animal was about two years old, in
distress, underweight and did not have a good
covering of flesh. "Her coat was wet, she was
dehydrated, missing hair and had lice crawling on
her skin," she said. Ms. Keogh used a mobile scanner
which detected a microchip. Gardai seized the animal
and Ms. Keogh transported her to her equine centre
in the Midlands. She told Judge Desmond Zaidan that
the Irish Draught Society later identified the
registered owner through the microchip as the
58-year old defendant, who had a previous conviction
in 2000 for animal cruelty, in relation to sheep.
Defence solicitor Paudge Dorrian asked for the case
to be dismissed saying there was a "gap in the chain
of evidence". He argued that there was no evidence
to prove that the required authorised agents, under
the Act, dealt with the case and he argued that the
summons was not brought under the appropriate
section of the Act. He also argued that there was no
acceptable evidence of ownership of the animal given
by the prosecution.
Garda Inspector Mick Coppinger rejected these
submissions and said the gardai acted in good faith
and within their powers.
There were heated exchanges between Mr. Dorrian and
Judge Zaidan when Mr. Dorrian accused the judge of
not giving him the opportunity to go into evidence
when his submissions were rejected.
Judge Zaidan said Mr. Dorrian had "done nothing but
try to frustrate the case". He told Mr. Dorrian it
was not for him to advise him on his proofs and that
he should have asked to go into evidence.
He imposed a six month jail term on each of the two
charges, to run concurrently. He granted forfeiture
of the horse, which had made a full recovery, to the
Irish Horse Welfare Trust. He also ordered the
defendant to pay, forthwith, expenses of €6,460 -
the bill for a year's care and medical treatment of
the horse. Finally, he disqualified the defendant
from keeping animals for the rest of his life.
Glackin was granted bail on his own bond of €3,000
with an independent surety of €8,000 of which €7,000
had to be lodged in cash. |
|
