‘Concrete floor would be better’ than faecal contaminated bedding provided for calves on Roscommon farm, trial hears

The concrete floor of the cattle shed would have been better than the wet, unhygienic bedding allegedly provided to cattle on a Roscommon farm, the jury trial of a Mayo farmer has heard.

Photographs shown to the jury at Roscommon Circuit Court as the trial against Sean Coughlan of Cum, Lahardane, Ballina, County Mayo, got underway, showed emaciated cows and calves, as well piles of bones belonging to dead calves allegedly found on his farm at Largan, Elphin, County Roscommon, four years ago.

Further images showed unhygienic conditions in the milking parlour and a refrigerated truck outside the parlour, which Superintending Veterinary Inspector with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Arthur O’Connor alleged seemed to be used as a waste disposal room.

Mr Coughlan and Coughlan Farming Ltd, the company for which Mr Coughlan is a sole director, are currently on trial for a combined total of 78 charges connected to the welfare of animals on a farm at Laragan, Elphin, County Roscommon.

On Wednesday, Mr Coughlan pleaded not guilty to four animal welfare charges against him personally, and four identical charges against the company. Those related to two counts each of permitting animals to be kept on wet, unhygienic bedding, and two counts each of permitting cows to be milked in unhygienic conditions on the dates of two separate inspections on November 23rd and November 29th, 2022.

Further not guilty pleas were entered to a total of 32 animal cruelty charges against him personally, and 32 identical charges against the company, mostly pertaining to the same inspection dates, with three charges each taking place at a third inspection on December 14th, 2022.

There were also two charges against Mr Coughlan for failure to dispose of animal carcasses, and two identical charges against the company, relating to the two November inspection dates.

The remaining two charges against Mr Coughlan himself were for failure to comply with notices issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on November 29th and December 14th, 2022.

Taking to the witness box, Mr O’Connor outlined to Sean O’Quiggley BL, instructed by State Solicitor for County Roscommon Kieran Madigan, that he was contacted by Mr Philip Breslin, who is the Superintending Veterinary Inspector for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in County Roscommon.

Mr Breslin outlined some issues regarding a bovine herd owned by Sean Coughlan at Largan, Elphin, County Roscommon, the movement of animals and whether or not those animals were tested for certain diseases.

Extensive documentation handed into the court outlined the movement of animals from three herd numbers in counties Clare, Mayo and Roscommon to knackeries in Sligo, Clare and Roscommon.

A further document confirmed that Sean Coughlan was the keeper of all three herd numbers and owner of the Clare herd number, while Coughlan Farming Ltd was owner of the Roscommon and Mayo herd numbers.

A large number of photos were shown to the jury, relating to the alleged animal welfare breaches and animal cruelty charges. Among them were images of a slatted shed with pens of young cattle, including two dead calves, heavily soiled with faeces, lying in the main pen.

Images of the dead calves showed them to be very thin, with very empty abdominal areas, indicating they hadn’t had food before they died. The calves were contaminated with faeces, looked like they had been trodden on by other calves, and were dead for a significant period of time, Mr O’Connor outlined.

A close-up of one of the calves’ eyes showed it was sunken completely into the head and dried up, indicating the animal had been dead for a significant period of time - probably more than a couple of days, he added.

More photos showed piles of faeces and bones, with the decomposed remains of at least three calves, and calf tags piled in the yard. Images also showed a pile of silage and animal feed, with the crown of another calf’s skull.

More images showed other remains of dead animals, including the tooth of a bovine calf, piles of bones, a tag attached to decomposing tissue, teeth and small pieces of bone, as well as skulls, and the jawbones of at least three calves in one pile.

The jury were then shown photos of animals standing on wet bedding, contaminated with faeces.

“When bedding is put under cattle on a concrete floor, they urinate and defecate. The bedding, over time, becomes contaminated and is replaced with fresh bedding so that animals are not lying in wet sludge or slurry. In this photograph, the animals are lying in wet sludge,” Mr O’Connor outlined.

The next photos showed “a very emaciated cow” lying on that wet sludge, which was severely contaminated with bovine faeces and urine. Mr O’Connor pointed out that the cow’s ribs could be easily counted and her spine was protruding severely.

“Either side of the spine should be muscle but hers is severely protruding. There’s virtually no muscle on her back,” he said, pointing out other points on her body where bones were protruding.

Her abdominal cavity was also hollowed out, indicating she hadn’t eaten in a number of days, and her hip bones were also protruding. Underneath that, her hind legs were aligned alongside her ribs and she was lying in a manner described as “dog sitting”, which is an unnatural position for a cow, Mr O’Connor stated, and “an indication of severe damage around the hip bone”.

The cow was unable to get up. Her head was down in a manner that Mr O’Connor described as depressed, with no vibrancy in her nose, her eyes sunken into her head, indicating dehydration, and her skin also showing signs of dehydration.

“This is a cow that is dying in that sludge,” he said, adding that the bedding she lay on was “reduced to manure”, with no sign of any straw or other organic material.

“What I see is a pile of cow dung. It’s not draining away the way the concrete floor is designed to do. This material would need to be removed and dry bedding put in its place. To be honest, the concrete floor would be better than this,” he said.

Another photo of the cow showed further protrusions and the hollowing out of her ribcage, with no fat or muscle.

“Her spine almost looks like a snail on top of the cow - there should be some muscle and fat cover, but there’s none at all. This cow has no reserves of muscle or fat in her body,” he said.

Again, the image showed the “dog sitting” position of the cow, indicating “severe distress to her hip, either nervous paralysis or some sort of damage to her hipbones - a fracture or dislocation”.

“This is a cow that is in the stages of dying. The ground she’s lying on is severely contaminated and wet. There is some faeces that would have to come out of her that she’s sitting in,” said Mr O’Connor.

“The animal is depressed and disinterested. In no way did this cow respond in any meaningful way. This cow is dying.” A large number of other photographs were shown to the jury, including an image of calves aged approximately ten months whose growth was “stunted”. These calves were also quite thin and were housed in inappropriate conditions, with slats on the floor in which their feet could get stuck or injured.

Other photos showed the milking parlour with severe staining from what Mr O’Connor said looks like smoke from a fire. The photo also showed severe staining and green mould on the wall.

“This is the pipe that sucks water into the milking machine. This is basically what washes the milking machine and it’s filthy. This is a food production facility. The requirements of food handling are laid out very rigorously and the most basic requirement is hygienic conditions. These are not hygienic conditions,” he said of one photo.

The final photograph shown to the jury on Thursday afternoon was the body of a refrigerated truck placed beside the milking parlour, into which the milk goes, and in which the farmer would usually prepare medicine for the cows.

“But this looks like a waste disposal room with waste bags,” said Mr O’Connor, pointing out a number of bags within bags of rubbish.

These facilities are supposed to be vermin-proof, he added, pointing out that the door was held open. He outlined how dairy facilities are expected to be sealed from insects, mice and rats.

“It’s supposed to be closed when people aren’t passing through it. It’s a food production area, milk is piped through it. Also, the washing materials for washing the milking machine are handled in this area,” he said.

“There is concern of contamination of the cleaning materials for the milking machine, and for the milk. It appears this was being used to store rubbish, which wouldn’t be normal. It would be in noncompliance with the legislation to do it. It’s not allowed because of the risk of both disease development in the animals and then contamination in the food product.” Also in the photo was “what appears to be a water pump”, which Mr O’Connor said is not appropriate positioning for a mechanical machine that generates smoke and dust in an area where food products are being produced and cleaning products for the equipment used.

“You can see the pump itself; if it was clean, there may not be an issue with it,” he said, “but the pump itself is contaminated with dirt.” The trial continues on Friday.

*Published as part of the Court Reporting Scheme