Shock as calves are mauled to death in Donegal

Pensivepuca

What do you guys think of this? (Not really sure where to place this to be honest)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-19755077

The calves' carcasses were found eaten and with ribs broken, on the farm outside Convoy, near Raphoe, on Thursday. It is not known how the animals died.
The farmer's wife Nicola Gregg said it was a very upsetting experience to think about what the calves went through before they died.
She said they would be taking steps to protect other livestock on their farm.
"My husband heard the calves roaring and when he went down to count them two were missing. When he investigated he saw they had basically been eaten alive.
"Their heads were fine it was just the stomach area, and the back and tail. They demolished more or less.
"Their ribs were broken which made us think it must have been something really strong to have done that.
"My husband said he had never seen anything like that in his life. It's sad and it is worrying."

This made me think of this wiki article on Cattle mutilation, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_mutilation

A hallmark of these incidents is the surgical nature of the mutilation, and unexplained phenomena such as the complete draining of the animal's blood, loss of internal organs with no obvious point of entry, and surgically precise removal of the reproductive organs and anal coring. Another reported event is that the animal is found dumped in an area where there are no marks or tracks leading to or from the carcass, even when it is found in soft ground or mud. The surgical-type wounds tend to be cauterized by an intense heat and made by very sharp/precise instruments, with no bleeding evident. Often flesh will be removed to the bone in an exact manner, consistent across cases, such as removal of flesh from around the jaw exposing the mandible.

From the whole wiki article, I get that what happened on that farm was not exactly that version of mutilation, it sounded more like animals.

Surprised that, as he says "eaten alive", I would assume most carnivores would go for the neck, a dead animal is easy to eat compared to a kicking and moving one.
The eating into the stomach (best access area to soft meat) is what I expect with a predator, but the broken ribs are quite confusing, unless the calves' had fell on a large stone or something.

I am not suggesting "aliens" as that wiki articles does, because I am don't believe that kinda thing, and its not really surgical...

What animal could do that to a calf? Two of them? More than one animal?
Foxes and large dogs, but I would never expect a fox to go for a healthy calf.
The news article does not give much information, was the bellowing the farmer heard of the other cattle, or did he hear the killed ones, or was it other calves? how soon did he find them?

What do you think done this?


Edit: Adding another news site

FAMILY FEAR MYSTERY ANIMAL KILLED THEIR CALVES
September 28, 2012

A farming family fear a large animal ate two of their young calves alive after a gruesome incident on their Co Donegal farm.

The blooded remains of the one year old calves were found half-eaten on the farm outside Convoy, near Raphoe, yesterday morning.

The one year old animals, which would have been a considerable size, had a number of their ribs broken.

The family at the centre of the attack and animal welfare officers are baffled as to who or what killed the animals.

The attack will again raise suspicions that a large wild cat is still roaming the north-west after sighting in recent years.

Nicola Gregg, whose husband found the dead animals, said it was a very upsetting experience to think about what the calves went through before they died.

She said she simply didn’t know what had attacked but suspected it may have ben a larger animal.

“I know there have been escaped wild big cats like pumas before here and in other countries and I’m convinced something like that has happened here.

“If this is the case, it is only a matter of time before this animal or animals do this again and farmers should be mindful of that.”

She said they would be taking steps to protect other livestock on their farm.

“My husband heard the calves roaring and when he went down to count them two were missing. When he investigated he saw they had basically been eaten alive.

“Their heads were fine it was just the stomach area, and the back and tail. They demolished more or less.

“Their ribs were broken which made us think it must have been something really strong to have done that.

“My husband said he had never seen anything like that in his life. It’s sad and it is worrying.”

Mr Gregg had the animals removed and disposed of.

Local RSPCA inspector Kevin McGinley said he found it hard to believe that a dog or dogs would have been able to inflict such damage on such animals.

However he said because the animals had been disposed of, there was no definite way of identifying what had happened to them.

“We were not officially informed about the matter but I would find it difficult to accept that dogs were able to do this.

“These animals were a year old and they would be a considerable size so it would take a lot to take both of them down,” he said.

Il Trap

Pensivepuca wrote: »

What do you guys think of this? (Not really sure where to place this to be honest)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-19755077


This made me think of this wiki article on Cattle mutilation, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_mutilation


From the whole wiki article, I get that what happened on that farm was not exactly that version of mutilation, it sounded more like animals.

Surprised that, as he says "eaten alive", I would assume most carnivores would go for the neck, a dead animal is easy to eat compared to a kicking and moving one.
The eating into the stomach (best access area to soft meat) is what I expect with a predator, but the broken ribs are quite confusing, unless the calves' had fell on a large stone or something.

I am not suggesting "aliens" as that wiki articles does, because I am don't believe that kinda thing, and its not really surgical...

What animal could do that to a calf? Two of them? More than one animal?
Foxes and large dogs, but I would never expect a fox to go for a healthy calf.
The news article does not give much information, was the bellowing the farmer heard of the other cattle, or did he hear the killed ones, or was it other calves? how soon did he find them?

What do you think done this?

If I was a calf. I’d be watching my back right now. They say it’s as big as four cats, and it’s got a retractable leg so as it can leap up at you better and it lights up at night, and it’s got four ears. Two of them are for listening and the other two are kind of back-up ears, and it’s claws are as big as cups and for some reason it’s got a tremendous fear of stamps and Mrs. Doyle was tellin’ me that it’s got magnets on it’s tail so’s if you’re made out of metal it can attach itself to you, and instead of a mouth it’s got four arses!

--LOS--

your two links are completely unrelated

it's probably just dogs, they do this to sheep, we are talking about calves here not cows so it doesnt seem like that much of a leap

Pensivepuca

--LOS-- wrote: »

your two links are completely unrelated

it's probably just dogs, they do this to sheep, we are talking about calves here not cows so it doesnt seem like that much of a leap

Yeah, I just put it there in case someone said cattle mutilation, like the ones reported in the US.

The calves were almost a year old, could dogs take down two?

ejmaztec

Il Trap wrote: »

If I was a calf. I’d be watching my back right now. They say it’s as big as four cats, and it’s got a retractable leg so as it can leap up at you better and it lights up at night, and it’s got four ears. Two of them are for listening and the other two are kind of back-up ears, and it’s claws are as big as cups and for some reason it’s got a tremendous fear of stamps and Mrs. Doyle was tellin’ me that it’s got magnets on it’s tail so’s if you’re made out of metal it can attach itself to you, and instead of a mouth it’s got four arses!

We had one of those, Tiddles it was called, had to let it go after the unfortunate incident at our 9 year-old's birthday party.:(

Rigol

is obviously the new world order at it again.
wake up you sheeples.

29th september.....9....and 2. 1 day left in september.
1. 2 times = 1.1.

9/11. those calves were only recently insured, you'll find the burnt flesh was consistent with thermite.

SEPT 23 1989

hungry hungry hippos?

partyatmygaff

Aliens, obviously.


Otherwise, it's not really all that shocking or interesting unless you're a farmer.

Kess73

--LOS-- wrote: »

your two links are completely unrelated

it's probably just dogs, they do this to sheep, we are talking about calves here not cows so it doesnt seem like that much of a leap

Would want to be a good number of dogs as a one year old calf, depending on breed and whether it is a bull or heifer, can clock in at anything from 300lbs to 700lbs afaik, and some can be much heavier.

So we are talking two calves that may have weighed between 21 stone and 50 stone being attacked with enough force to break ribs and rip them open.

Schism

It's the beast. I hear it has no mouth, but instead four arses and its yawn sounds like Liam Neeson chasing a load of hens around inside a barrel.

Shryke

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Aliens, obviously.


Otherwise, it's not really all that shocking or interesting unless you're a farmer.

You have to be a farmer to care that two large enough and docile animals were eaten alive near where people live? How about it's not interesting if you're a clod on the internet. The state of some people, how detached can you get.

Pensivepuca

Kess73 wrote: »

Would want to be a good number of dogs as a one year old calf, depending on breed and whether it is a bull or heifer, can clock in at anything from 300lbs to 700lbs afaik.

So we are talking two calves that may have weighed between 21 stone and 50 stone being attacked with enough force to break ribs and rip them open.

Yeah, I am far from a farmer, but this is curious.
I know dogs to take lambs (and the odd old/sick sheep) but year old calves are big.
Even a pack of dogs...and when do you see packs of dogs?
--LOS--

Local RSPCA inspector Kevin McGinley said he found it hard to believe that a dog or dogs would have been able to inflict such damage on such animals.

cloptrop

Id say its the same jokers that were superglueing the doors yesterday .
Coming up with new ideas us always a challenge for them but they will work around the clock to come up with something original.

Gran Hermano

I knew this would happen when we ran out of swans.

Cantona's Collars

I blame Apple,ever since the iphone5 was released this wave of antisocial behaviour has started.I'm off to contact Joe Duffy-it's a disgrace.

Calibos

Cattle Mutilations a few days after a flaming object from outer space flies over Ulster?


Coincidence??






















...of course it is but I can't wait for the creduloids to start sincerely expounding that theory

Honest opinion

Rigol wrote: »

is obviously the new world order at it again.
wake up you sheeples.

29th september.....9....and 2. 1 day left in september.
1. 2 times = 1.1.

9/11. those calves were only recently insured, you'll find the burnt flesh was consistent with thermite.

Yep 100% according to after hours its probably its probably Fianna Fáil's fault as well

partyatmygaff

Shryke wrote: »

You have to be a farmer to care that two large enough and docile animals were eaten alive near where people live? How about it's not interesting if you're a clod on the internet. The state of some people, how detached can you get.

Animals are eaten alive near where people live every minute of every day. It's not hugely surprising or shocking unless you're a farmer with calves or if you think you're going to be attacked in your sleep by an escaped tiger roaming around Ireland.

anncoates

Sounds like the work of Mary Harney. Was any evidence of a sauteed potato side order found at the scene?

wolfeye

Is'nt there a full moon out now at night.
So i've come to the only logical answer .....There is a werewolf pack living within 35 km2 that area.
Every one to your pitchforks..

blatantrereg

The attack will again raise suspicions that a large wild cat is still roaming the north-west after sighting in recent years.

http://www.donegaldaily.com/2012/09/28/family-fear-mystery-animal-killed-their-calves/

I wonder if a big dog like a rottweiler might be capable of inflicting the injuries described, or if this really is evidence of a big cat being around.

Stinicker

I'd say everyone in Donegal is still pissed drunk after winning the All-Ireland last weekend.

seamus

blatantrereg wrote: »

http://www.donegaldaily.com/2012/09/28/family-fear-mystery-animal-killed-their-calves/

I wonder if a big dog like a rottweiler might be capable of inflicting the injuries described, or if this really is evidence of a big cat being around.

No, a one-year-old calf is still pretty big, a rottweiler isn't nearly big enough to do the damage described. A pack of large dogs at a stretch could do it, but even then there would be telltale marks on the neck and head. Plus dogs are very human-friendly animals, a pack of five or six large dogs would stay close to towns and villages and would be spotted very easily.

A big cat? Maybe, Donegal is pretty wild and there have been allegations that some people may have bought exotic cats as animals in the boom years and just let them roam when they could no longer afford them. Cougars are pretty hardy animals, they could survive Donegal winters.

Micky Dolenz

Celtic Tiger ( forgive the pun) made for unusual pets, there are a few examples out there. Too expensive to keep now, so are allowed to roam the land, waiting and watching, and killing of course.

Richard Hillman

Most likely a ManBearPig

Grayson

The attack will again raise suspicions that a large wild cat is still roaming the north-west after sighting in recent years.

Nicola Gregg, whose husband found the dead animals, said it was a very upsetting experience to think about what the calves went through before they died.

She said she simply didn’t know what had attacked but suspected it may have ben a larger animal.

But shipping them off to an abbatoir is grand.

Shryke

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Shryke wrote: »

You have to be a farmer to care that two large enough and docile animals were eaten alive near where people live? How about it's not interesting if you're a clod on the internet. The state of some people, how detached can you get.

Animals are eaten alive near where people live every minute of every day. It's not hugely surprising or shocking unless you're a farmer with calves or if you think you're going to be attacked in your sleep by an escaped tiger roaming around Ireland.

You have no idea what you're talking about and clearly have no idea what it would take to do this to these animals. Bluffer.

Sky King

But shipping them off to an abbatoir is grand.

I'd prefer the abbatoir.

Reindeer

"However he said because the animals had been disposed of, there was no definite way of identifying what had happened to them."

If they were truly concerned, they would have taken photos and had someone other than the incompetent animal control officers look at the corpses. The fact there's no evidence, and no one has bothered to look for tracks and take photos of those, or photos of teeth marks, etc could well mean it's a hoax or they very well know what did it. In fact we all know what did it, it was either people or animals or both. When animals attack, especially if they have left as much of the corpse as is claimed in this article, they leave teeth marks on their victims, making an ID relatively easy. So, if it is the case it was animals, the best way to keep from having them identified is to lose the corpses. Humans don't tend to bite animals we attack, so if those corpses did lack teeth marks...

If you ask me OP, the fact the cattle have broken rib bones likely means someone hit them with a vehicle and maybe tried to cover it up, and perhaps other animals became involved before the corpses were found. It is extremely rare for even a large predator such as a lion or tiger to bother to break the rib bones on something the size of a cow. And here we have two corpses done in such a manner.

Jesus Shaves

What's with the amount of conspiracy theory threads lately, yawn.

mfceiling

--LOS-- wrote: »

your two links are completely unrelated

it's probably just dogs, they do this to sheep, we are talking about calves here not cows so it doesnt seem like that much of a leap

Have you ever been near a farm?

Do you know the size difference between a one year old calf and a one year old sheep?

Google it there and get back to us

Scioch

I'm inclined to think it was dogs. A pack of dogs can do a hell of a lot of damage and a calf could easily break ribs when brought down at pace or trying to jump a bank or ditch or something.

Geri Male

Has to be animal-rights activists or hunt sabs.

up for anything

Pet dogs sometimes don't bother killing a creature before dining especially when in a pack. Two family pet dogs from a neighbouring house polished off the hind leg of the last of my dad's pet goats a few Christmases ago without going for it's jugular. Poor Fiona died a nasty death from blood loss after they'd finished with her. The second to last goat that he had was killed fairly cleanly by the same two animals a year or so before that.

Nobody in authority gives a shit about pet livestock. Sure they couldn't do anything because there was no proof that it was those dogs apart from the fact that we'd all seen them worrying the poor animals on a regular basis. The wee pets now sit on the side of the road outside that house watching people making their way up and down the road. Funny how they don't bother going for the bullocks though. One of these days my car won't miss. :mad:

SubBusted

One of those grabbers.

Light Switch

Few lads coming home from the pub id say.

af_thefragile

Its the Aliens!!!!


Where's Mulder and Scully when you need them??!

Jesus Shaves

up for anything wrote: »

Pet dogs sometimes don't bother killing a creature before dining especially when in a pack. Two family pet dogs from a neighbouring house polished off the hind leg of the last of my dad's pet goats a few Christmases ago without going for it's jugular. Poor Fiona died a nasty death from blood loss after they'd finished with her. The second to last goat that he had was killed fairly cleanly by the same two animals a year or so before that.

Nobody in authority gives a shit about pet livestock. Sure they couldn't do anything because there was no proof that it was those dogs apart from the fact that we'd all seen them worrying the poor animals on a regular basis. The wee pets now sit on the side of the road outside that house watching people making their way up and down the road. Funny how they don't bother going for the bullocks though. One of these days my car won't miss. :mad:

Trap the dogs, throw them in your boot and hang them from a local tree

Heroditas

My money's on a spider baby.

maddragon

Rigol wrote: »

is obviously the new world order at it again.
wake up you sheeples.

29th september.....9....and 2. 1 day left in september.
1. 2 times = 1.1.

9/11. those calves were only recently insured, you'll find the burnt flesh was consistent with thermite.

I blame Declan Kidney

My name is URL

Mr Gregg had the animals removed and disposed of.

That makes little sense to me. Why dispose of the carcasses before running tests etc to find out what happened?

3ndahalfof6

could a black hole do this type of damage.

blatantrereg

My name is URL wrote: »

That makes little sense to me. Why dispose of the carcasses before running tests etc to find out what happened?

I think the carcasses were distressing his wife.

3ndahalfof6

blatantrereg wrote: »

I think the carcasses were distressing his wife.

but they were dead.

Seaneh

My name is URL wrote: »

That makes little sense to me. Why dispose of the carcasses before running tests etc to find out what happened?

becuase he probably has other animals on his land and leaving a dead rotting animal in the field runs the risk of the others getting sick.


Common ****ing sense really.

Also, em, the law.

Shryke

My name is URL wrote: »

That makes little sense to me. Why dispose of the carcasses before running tests etc to find out what happened?

You're talking about a country that has a police force that wouldn't finger print a crime scene.

kraggy

Sounds like that Animal Rites crowd.

My name is URL

Seaneh wrote: »

becuase he probably has other animals on his land and leaving a dead rotting animal in the field runs the risk of the others getting sick.


Common ****ing sense really.

Also, em, the law.

Who said anything about leaving it rotting in a field?

Yeah, sounds like real common sense to destroy the carcases before any tests are conducted to try and find out which animal was responsible. And why then go to the media with the story causing people to speculate? If they arranged for a forensic examination of the animal it could have shone a light on what happened.. not least because it could be a potential crime and some psychopath that done it.

Sindri

blatantrereg wrote: »

http://www.donegaldaily.com/2012/09/28/family-fear-mystery-animal-killed-their-calves/

I wonder if a big dog like a rottweiler might be capable of inflicting the injuries described, or if this really is evidence of a big cat being around.

Scioch wrote: »

I'm inclined to think it was dogs. A pack of dogs can do a hell of a lot of damage and a calf could easily break ribs when brought down at pace or trying to jump a bank or ditch or something.

Only dog I can think of that could break those ribs itself would be a mastiff. They have the strongest bite of all canines. Or the calves could have broken them when they fell or in their panic. But it would have to be a pack of big dogs to take down two calves and they would't bother going after two, they'd focus only on one. Two calves would be extremely difficult to take down and even one would have injured the dogs. And a pack of mastiffs would have been noticed.

steddyeddy

Could be an escaped or breeding bigcat. We would need to see how it was killed to be sure.

partyatmygaff

Shryke wrote: »

You have no idea what you're talking about and clearly have no idea what it would take to do this to these animals. Bluffer.

Considering no one knows what happened and I didn't claim to know what happened either, I don't see my bluff.

Unless you're suggesting it was some cult ritual or aliens, it more than likely was a nutjob with a big knife or a big animal of some kind. Owing to the fact the calves' ribs were broken it may well have been some kind of big animal. Something to note and fret about if you're a farmer in Donegal but hardly even news-worthy if you're anyone else.