A €5,000 reward has been put forward by animal rights group, ARAN for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the deaths of animals found at the base of cliffs in Doonbeg.
Carcasses of at least 16 animals, including horses and cows, were discovered at the base of Baltard Cliffs earlier this week leading Clare ISPCA warden, Frankie Coote to describe the incident “as sinister”.
The carcasses, believed to have been at the base of the cliffs for up to two months, were spotted by a passerby. The Department of Agriculture along with An Garda Siochana, Clare County Council and the ISPCA are investigating.
ARAN’s spokesperson John Carmody said, “. As a nation we should hang our heads in shame that we’ve reached a point where animal abuse has now gone so out of control that those who are involved in it, simply don’t have anything to fear.”
However, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney said he is extremely concerned at the finding of carcases of horses and cattle at the bottom of Baltard Cliffs.
“The Department will continue to work with the gardaí and Clare County Council to uncover the full facts of this terrible incident and bring those involved to justice,” he vowed.
Minister Coveney added that a huge amount of work has been done in recent years in the area of animal welfare including significant new legislation and regulations around the treatment and ownership of animals, and year on year increases in funding.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.