Milking equipment ‘absolutely caked with faecal material’ was ‘the filthiest’ inspector had ever seen, trial hears

The equipment in the milking parlour of a farmer currently on trial for a number of animal cruelty offences was the filthiest an inspector had ever come across, a court has heard.

“These are the filthiest clusters I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve been on hundreds of dairy farms,” Superintending Veterinary Inspector with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Arthur O’Connor told the jury, referring to a photograph of one particular milking cluster which was “absolutely caked with faecal material”.

He was giving evidence on the second day of the trial at Roscommon Circuit Court against Sean Coughlan of Cum, Lahardane, Ballina, County Mayo, and Coughlan Farming Ltd, the company for which Sean Coughlan is sole director.

Mr Coughlan is represented personally by Bernard Madden SC and Patrick O’Sullivan BL, instructed by Kamal Vaid, while Coughlan Farming Ltd is represented by Fergal McMorrow BL, instructed by Matthew Kenny.

Mr Coughlan and Coughlan Farming have pleaded not guilty to a combined total of 78 charges connected to the welfare of animals on the farm at Laragan, Elphin, County Roscommon. Among those are charges of permitting cows to be milked in unhygienic conditions on November 23rd and November 29th, 2022.

Photographs shown to the jury showed various components of the milking system caked in faecal matter, which Mr O’Connor said posed a risk of transferring bacteria to the cows during milking.

“What happens in the process is the milk man puts his hands on the teats to check them, then handles these clusters which are put on each teat. He then moves to the next cow and puts his hand on each teat,” he said, referring to a photo of the milking equipment.

“What I see in this picture is a negligent risk of a milkman putting his hand on faecal matter and then putting his hand on the next cow.” Mr O’Connor outlined to Sean O’Quiggley BL, instructed by State Solicitor for County Roscommon Kieran Madigan, that dairy cows are “the Ferrari of cows” and highly productive animals that are susceptible to disease when stressed.

Mastitis is the most common infection to which a dairy cow would be exposed, he said. Damage to their teats can allow bacteria into their mammary glands, leading to infection or disease. For this reason, protection of the cow from infection is important when milking.

Referring to the “filthiest” clusters he had ever seen in his 24 years as a veterinary inspector, Mr O’Connor said the faecal matter caked onto the equipment “indicates that these clusters haven’t been cleaned for a very long time”.

“Filthy is how I’d describe it,” he told the jury, adding that the expectation would be that “all of this should be fit to eat your food off”.

At a minimum, the equipment and the floor of the shed should be washed down with hot water after each milking, he said. Many farmers use a foam cleaner, which is left on for a period of time before being washed off, leaving the parlour clean “like dishes coming out of a dishwasher”.

Further photographs showed the pit in which the person milking the cows works, where “you can see faecal material absolutely spattered all over the place”.

“The pipes hanging down all have faecal material. As you move from the top to the bottom, they become more contaminated. There are two rubber pipes hanging down. At the top, you can see that they’re rubber pipes, but as you move down, you can’t tell what they are because there’s so much faecal material,” he said.

“They look like strings hanging down. It’s indecipherable what they are. That indicates to me that the bottom of the pit becomes flooded with faecal material to the point that these pipes are dipped in faecal material.” Equipment attached to the walls also showed evidence of having been flooded with faecal matter, he said, adding that “the hygiene levels here are atrocious”.

Mr O’Connor further outlined that faecal contamination on the clear plastic dome of the cluster could prevent the person milking the cow from seeing the milk flow and judging when to remove the equipment.

Leaving it attached for too long, or removing it too soon, could cause stress or increase the risk of mastitis, he said. The hygiene risk was also a concern because “this is a food production facility”.

Photographs of the dairy beside the milking parlour showed more faecal contamination and mould on the floor. One door was open, while another doorway had no door. This structure should be vermin-proof, he said, and therefore needs to be sealed.

Mr O’Connor said the structure “wouldn’t be acceptable as a permanent structure” for milking cows. Furthermore, he stated the milking parlour itself did not provide enough protection for the cows against inclement weather to keep them warm while being milked.

Photographs of the yard at the rear of the parlour, where cattle would wait to be milked, showed further faecal contamination. Mr O’Connor said this was not unusual immediately after milking, but the yard should be cleaned quickly afterwards.

“There’s a lot of slurry in this yard, which indicates there isn’t a lot of cleaning done in that area,” he said, adding that “the hygiene maintenance of the yard is in poor condition”.

Further images showed the outdoor exit area, where cattle had to walk down five concrete steps before stepping into “several inches of cow dung mixed with wet soil”.

Mr O’Connor said the steps posed a risk of stress, slipping and injury, while walking through slurry increased the risk of infection in the animals’ feet.

“The second biggest disease issue with dairy cows in Ireland is lameness. There are two aspects to that - an injury or stone stuck in the foot, or an infection. At a bare minimum, the maintenance of cows’ feet requires that they don’t walk through faecal matter,” he said.

More photographs showed an open medicine box containing five medicine bottles and a syringe, all of which had faecal matter on them.

Mr O’Connor said the box should be closed, preferably locked, and the bottles and syringes inside should be clean. The medicines were used to treat conditions such as mastitis and lameness, he said, outlining the risk of introducing a contaminated needle into a cow.

“This is just sloppy,” he said.

The feeding trough in the milking parlour also posed hygiene concerns. Mr O’Connor said leftover feed could become wet and mouldy or attract birds and vermin that carry diseases. Of particular concern were badgers, which can carry TB.

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 the two November inspections.

Further not guilty pleas were entered to 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 relating to 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.

The trial continues on Tuesday.