Early morning walker finds dead lambs on country road

About a dozen lamb carcasses have been found dumped at the side of a road in a rural part of Northern Ireland.

The animals, piled on top of each other at a gate on a country lane near Claudy, County Londonderry, were discovered by local woman Lisa Houston who was taking a walk early on Sunday.

"I have never seen anything like it in my life, it was terrible, even for someone from a farming background," she said.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) is investigating the incident.

Warning: this article contains distressing images.

She told BBC News NI she had walked the same route on Saturday and "they definitely were not there at the gate".

She said discovering the carcasses on Sunday morning was "shocking and upsetting," and she found it difficult to understand how and why they had been dumped.

"The longer they stay there the greater a health hazard they become," she said.

"I don't think I can do that walk again until they are removed."

In Northern Ireland, responsibility for the recovery and disposal of fallen livestock lies with the animal owner if that can be established. If not, then it rests with the owner of the land on which the carcass is located.

On public land or highways, responsibility for disposal rests with the local council, if ownership cannot be determined.

A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council confirmed it "is aware of the incident" and that the lambs' "disposal is currently being arranged".

The spokesperson encouraged anyone with any information relating to this incident to contact them to help them find out who is responsible so that they can be prosecuted and the cost of the disposal recovered.

In a statement, a Daera spokesman said the department is "concerned about the images circulating on social media and is investigating the matter".

Animal by-products "are a potential source of risk to public and animal health", the spokesman said, and farmers have a "legal obligation to dispose of animals in a safe and sustainable manner".

Thomas Conway farms near where the lambs were found.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme he said he had never "seen or heard of an incident like this".

He said the lambs looked to be about a week old.

"Somebody has dumped these lambs. I looked at the photographs – the lambs look to me from the photographs … they look like lambs that weren't stillborn.

"So somebody has come along and done this.

"It is a reprehensible act."

It is the latest in a series of animal carcass discoveries in Northern Ireland.

Earlier this month, a seven-year-old boy was left distraught after he found a number of dead lambs in a bag while out litter-picking with his family in County Tyrone.

Since then, more animal dumping incidents have been reported to authorities in the Clogher Valley area.

Last week Adam Dunlop from Clogher told BBC News NI the fields around his home had become an illegal dumping ground for dead animals.