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The brutal killing of five pregnant deer and their unborn foetuses did not constitute a breach of a licence shamefully granted to a shooter by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. That's according to a statement from the office of Green Party Minister of State, Malcolm Noonan.
The obscene barbarity took place on 3rd April 2023 in County Meath - five heavily pregnant deer were mercilessly gunned down in a field. Fully formed live fawn foetuses – believed to be days from birth - were then cut from the bodies of the dead hinds and their throats were slit. Their remains were also dumped in the field.
The killing was carried out under a licence issued under Section 42 of the Wildlife Act which allows for the hunting of protected animals outside of the shooting season “where serious damage is occurring”.
“This incident was investigated and the NPWS are satisfied that there was no breach of the Section 42 licence issued,” a spokesperson for Heritage Minister of State Malcolm Noonan stated in a letter to a member of the public.
No action was taken against the individual who shot the pregnant deer and cut the throats of their unborn fawns. He was simply asked not to leave the butchered bodies lying around next time.
“It was recommended to the stalker [shooter] that in the future he be more mindful of disposing of carcasses in a responsible manner,” the Minister's spokesperson added.
“If gunning down pregnant animals, ripping unborn young from their bodies and slitting their throats is not actually a breach of the licence, the appropriate action here - particularly as a Green Party representative - is to at least move to change the licence conditions to ensure this never happens again,” ICABS stated in a letter to Minister Noonan. “It is utterly appalling that the only repercussion for those who carry out this repugnant act is that they are told to be 'more mindful' of how they dispose of the bloody remains.”
The horror for wildlife is playing out all over the country, with a huge number of Section 42 licences being granted by the NPWS who report to Ministers Noonan and Fianna Fail's Darragh O'Brien.
Section 42 licences facilitate the killing of protected wild mammals and birds “causing serious damage to food (including human food products and animal feeds), livestock, poultry or agricultural crops (including vegetables or fruit) either on pasture or on cultivated land, pen-reared wild birds on any land, other fauna, flora, a woodland or a forest plantation, or a fishery, buildings and other structures and their contents, or aquaculture installations”.
A message posted on the website of the National Parks and Wildlife Service this month reveals the high number of licences being processed for the blasting to death of protected wildlife - “Due to the volume of applications currently being processed, please allow up to 3 weeks from the date you send in your application for a licence to issue.”
ACTION ALERT
Join us in urging Ministers Malcolm Noonan and Darragh O'Brien to stop issuing licences for the killing of protected wildlife.
Minister Darragh O’Brien (Fianna Fail, Dublin Fingal)
Tel: (01) 618 3802 OR (086) 251 9893
Email: darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; minister@housing.gov.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Malcolm Noonan TD (Green Party, Carlow Kilkenny)
Minister of State for Heritage
Tel: (01) 618 3148 OR (01) 618 3156
Email: mos@housing.gov.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votemalcolmnoonan1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/noonan_malcolm
SEE ALSO:
Sunday World: Heavily pregnant deer killed with foetuses removed in Meath
https://www.sundayworld.com/news/irish-news/heavily-pregnant-deer-killed-with-foetuses-removed-in-meath/a1586498171.html