Dungannon vet lost job for animal welfare concerns

A DUNGANNON vet has won a landmark action against the Department of Agriculture over serious breaches of animal welfare and traceability within the meat supply chain, and which ultimately resulted in her constructive dismissal.

The case was brought by Belfast law firm McCartan Turkington Breen on behalf of their client, Dr Tamara Bronckaers.

Dr Bronckaers who worked within the veterinary Service Animal Health Group for the Department of Agriculture made two arguments in relation to legislative failures including that some livestock market operators were not adhering to their statutory duties and responsibilities, and that Department officials were aware of this and failed to adhere to their responsibilities to enforce the relevant legislation.

What Dr Bronckaers uncovered and reported on was very concerning due to the adverse effect on traceability of cattle and the consequential likely effect on the spread of disease, in particular TB.

She says this legislation means that Market Operators, who were deleting cattle moves, were acting contrary to the legislation and therefore committing an offence.

The relevance of these failures to Dr Bronckaers’ case is that it is precisely because she was highlighting them and making her protected disclosures, that ultimately resulted in her constructive dismissal following over a year of “being regularly excluded, ignored and undermined”.

Dr Bronckaers, who is married with four children, said, “Animal welfare was a major concern for me and I witnessed first-hand animals suffering unnecessarily – in one livestock market there were overloaded and unclean pens, lame sheep and cattle, and animals being left overnight without food or water.

“During my 19 years in the Department, I tried to do what was right and I couldn’t carry on doing a job that I wasn’t being allowed to carry out ethically.”