NORTHERN IRELAND’S AGRICULTURE minister has said he has received a death threat after the controversial culling of 51 cows by shooting in Co Tyrone.

Stormont’s Agriculture Committee held an emergency meeting today on the issue.

Alliance minister Andrew Muir told the committee that there has been “misinformation suggesting that I sanctioned or ordered the cull” and that he has received a death threat.

Muir said he has had to discuss this with the PSNI and that other officials have had to “consider security measures and personal safety”.

He also hit out at “misogynistic, sectarian and homophobic abuse” in relation to the issue.

Cattle cull

The cull took place after a man was convicted of a number of offences and disqualified for life from keeping animals.

During welfare inspections carried out between 2022 and 2024, Muir said the conditions on the farm were “grotesque” and that the “images of emaciated animals shall never leave my mind”.

He added that there was little food and water for the animals, and that any food that was available has been “contaminated with urine and dung”.

Muir said a “large number of animals were caused unnecessary suffering” and that 33 animals carcasses were found at the farm.

Following this, the agriculture department was required by the courts to deprive the man of any livestock he had.

Muir said the first step was to “seek to work constructively with the individual” and that the man was given an extended period of three weeks to “sell, give away or transfer his stock” and that he was offered advice on how to do this.

However, only a small number of animals were moved and Muir said the department “had to act on the legal order placed upon it by the court”.

He said it was the “professional judgement of veterinary officials” that euthanasia was the “only viable option” and that there was “no reasonable alternative” available.

‘Wild west scene’

However, the method and location of the culling has garnered significant controversy, with local Sinn Féin councillor Eugene McConnell describing it as a “wild west scene”.

At the end of June, 51 cows were shot dead in a field in near Fivemiletown in Co Tyrone.

The culling attracted widespread criticism after claims some of the cattle had been shot by Department of Agriculture staff in view of some members of the public.

Image of the dead cows in a Co Tyrone field Social media Social media

DUP MLA Deborah Erskine said she was made aware of a “father and son driving past this field and witnessing this in broad daylight”.

Speaking today before the committee, Muir said the cows were shot at three sites, and that at two of these sites, there were no issues arising with exposure to the public.

He added that officials had ensured to “minimise exposure to public view” before the culling.

However, he acknowledged that at the last of the three sites, “commentary is centred around the public view”.

Muir said that before cows were due to be culled at the last site, a farmer had expressed interest in buying some of the cattle.

Muir said the culling stopped “immediately” and it was agreed that some of the cows could be moved to a lorry for transfer.

He said the animals were then chased in an attempt to gather them, but in a move “demonstrating the very real challenges of gathering the animals on the site, they were then released onto a public road”.

“At which stage, conscious of wider public safety, (department) staff intervened, with the help of some local farmers, to move the animals off the road, where they were then humanely euthanised.”

Muir said that by this point, “a small number of protesters had gathered” and that operations ceased until they had dispersed.

This meant that the operation did not finish until after 10pm, resulting in the carcasses of the cows not being collected until the next morning.

Independent review

Speaking at the committee, DUP deputy leader Michelle McIlveen said the agriculture department “has lost all credibility in the eyes of the public where animal welfare is concerned”.

“What happened appears to be brutal, appears to be inhumane, and ironically, what was meant to be an animal welfare intervention has become an animal welfare scandal at the hands of the department, and that’s totally regrettable.”

She added that “there is anger right across the farming community” as a result.

While Muir appeared before the committee, a number of farmers held a protest outside Stormont, where the meeting was being played live to the crowd.

Farmers protest at Stormont buildings Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Muir said he “appreciates this is a sensitive, complex, and very distressing case” and added: “When I saw the photos and videos of animal carcasses in open fields and learned of the range of allegations circulating, I too have been concerned.”

He said that in “recognition of these concerns”, there will be a “full and thorough independent review”.

He said this “will be thorough but not prolonged” and that he wants to see it “completed promptly by early autumn, so that any learning can be identified and implemented quickly”.

‘Deeply concerning’

Muir then turned to the “very real impact of some of the misleading and inaccurate reporting and commentary that has surrounded this case”.

“The wave of misogynistic, sectarian, and homophobic hate, threats and intimidation against both officials and myself is despicable and deeply concerning,” said Muir.

“The fact that I have now received a death threat is nothing short of a disgrace.

“The fact that I have had to discuss this with the police, and also officials who have had to consider security measures and personal safety, is unacceptable and seriously troubling.”