Rural Tyrone hit by repeated illegal dumping of dead farm animals

Dead lambs dumped beside a country road near Cappagh turned a routine community litter pick into a moment a young child should never have had to face. Ursula Bradley said her seven-year-old son was the one who spotted the bag on Tuesday, March 31, and that he was left upset and full of questions after finding the carcasses in rural County Tyrone.

The discovery has sharpened concern about a pattern that is becoming grimly familiar across the county. In April 2023, walkers came across more than 10 dead calves and several sheep dumped on the Alderwood Road between Clogher and Fivemiletown, with bags containing dead sheep and lambs also left at the site. Local observers said the smell was overwhelming, and DAERA officials were understood to have inspected the area.

A separate recent incident has added to the sense that the problem is not confined to one road or one offender. A large cow carcass and several dead sheep were dumped in a ditch near Clogher, with dead farm animals in bags scattered nearby. Clogher Valley independent candidate Kevin McElvogue described that scene as “six or seven calves dumped down onto the riverbank and into the river,” while a local councillor said the remains of sheep, calves and a cow in the area looked like “a graveyard.”

The repeated dumping raises a public health and environmental issue as much as an enforcement problem. DAERA says animal by-products can pose risks to public and animal health, and its guidance requires fallen stock to be collected, identified and transported without undue delay. Northern Ireland guidance also warns that illegal waste can pollute air, land and water and harm human and animal health. DAERA maintains lists of approved premises and registered hauliers for animal by-products, showing that legal disposal routes already exist.

That leaves the central question squarely with enforcement and rural governance. Fermanagh and Omagh District Council has said it can make no further comment while the investigation is ongoing, but repeated discoveries in Cappagh, Clogher and along the Alderwood Road suggest that illegal dumping is still reaching isolated roads, riverbanks and ditches before authorities can stop it. For families using those roads, and for children drawn into the cleanup work, the damage is immediate: foul smells, distress and a lasting reminder that the countryside is being asked to absorb a problem it should not have to carry.