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Donegal Farmer Banned From Owning Animals For 10 Years

File image: ISPCA

There were 30 charges in total relating to dogs being kept in a van without water.

A Donegal farmer has been banned from owning animals for 10 years after being convicted for a number of animal cruelty offences.

74-year-old Leslie Stewart of The Thorn in Letterkenny was also given a suspended jail sentence.

A number of inspections by the Department of Agriculture took place on Mr Stewart's farm between 2019 and 2021 where a number of animals were found in various states of neglect.

There were 30 charges in total relating to dogs being kept in a van without water, allowing sheep carcasses to remain unburied, and keeping pigs and poultry without adequate access to water.

Three collie-type dogs were removed from a van and assessed for heat stroke - they were then taken into the care of the ISPCA for rehabilitation and have since been rehomed.



The Judge described the conditions as "horrendous" and "disturbing."

Mr Stewart previously had a two year ban from keeping animals and a suspended jail sentence in 2016.

At Letterkenny District Court he was fined 1,500 euro, and banned from keeping animals for the next decade with the Judge saying he hadn't learned anything from his previous ban.

In addition, Mr Stewart was sentenced to a total of four months in jail with the sentences suspended for 12 months.
 

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