Fourteen cattle die from dehydration after water disconnected at Coolmore-owned farm
Fourteen cattle died of dehydration at a farm owned by Coolmore Stud in Ireland after a water supply was accidentally disconnected. The company attributed the incident to human error during a period of extreme heat and has launched an internal investigation.
Why it matters
The incident highlights risks in large-scale agricultural management and has prompted scrutiny regarding animal welfare standards at major farming operations.
Fourteen young cattle died of dehydration last week at a farm owned by Coolmore Stud after the animals’ drinking water supply was disconnected.
The incident occurred at a farm in Brodeen, Co Tipperary , near the world-famous Coolmore Stud in Fethard owned by businessman John Magnier .
According to a spokesman for Coolmore, the deaths resulted from “human error” after the animals’ drinking water was temporarily disconnected to allow the water trough to be cleaned.
The stud said the deaths took place “during an intense hot spell last month, the hottest July on record”.
“The incident was immediately reported to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on July 28 th ,” it added.
There was a failure to reconnect the drinking water and to monitor the cattle in a “timely manner,” the company said in a statement.
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