Problem with Neighbours cattle

dzer2 wrote: »

Had a savage problem with the next door neighbours cattle. At least twice a year they would plough the place every year it was sorry we will fix it I done it while he drove down the road laughing at me. The last time the y came in I had video evidence by god he said it was my duty to of care as it was my property. Took him to court 25k it cost him I have never in 7 years seen an animal of his break out since. Its only bad manners and ignorance to have your cattle break out.

I've a small bit of expierence in this area and I think its a unusual for a case like yours to end up costing the defendant 25k.

Do you mind saying whether or not you recieved your costs as part of the judgement?

Its just the OP has a problem.
You say you had a similar problem. You sued the farmer and it cost him 25k.
But if it cost you 5-10k to take the case or there are much more complex facts involved in your case (which I suspect there is) then your advice is flawed.

I would say to the OP, get electric gates or close the ones you have. Going down the legal route will cost you twice the price of electric gates, take years to sort out and will leave bad blood between you and this farmer for many more years after.

dzer2 wrote: »

We have electric gates that are always closed the cattle came down the road and leaped overthe 3 foot wall nocking some of the stonework and ploughed the two lawns. we had cc tv put in at the garage to stop heating oil being lifted. We got a landscaper in to rectify the lawns and repair the trees and hedging. We have lived here 15 years and some trees were mkaturing nicely all were replaced. We got our costs and the contractor paid that is all we asked for.

Right. I think you'd agree, your case involves considerably more significant damage.

Also by the sounds of it your property was closed by electric gates yet the animals jumped the boundary wall.
The OP has a scenario were the gates are left open. This is no defence to the farmer but would be a mitigating factor especially when calculating damages.

The point I'm making is that the OP might not enjoy the same resounding success in court that you did.

bennyineire wrote: »

I have gates which I usually close but sometimes when people visit they forget to close them.

Your gates, your problem.

I'd blame your guests for the damage, rather than the cows. Unless the cows have more intelligence than your guests :pac:

zetecescort wrote: »

who builds a house in the country without a cattle grid? serious oversight.

Esp as the land is right next to a farm yard? The mind boggles! Although it may not be 100% effective, it should have been part of the cost of the house.

bennyineire wrote: »

I would love to get a cattle grid to be honest but I am currently doing a masters degree at the moment and tha missus is out of work so we just won't have the money for a couple of years.

Either get electronic locks, or lock the gates and tell your guests to park outside.

mf240 wrote: »

That sounds reasonable. If it were my cattle that did this damage I would most likely have offered to repair damage and replace trees supplying my own labour.
Would such an offer have been accepted dzer2?

He was offered the optiion of helping me repair the damage and covering the costs of replanting and he laughed at me told me I was stupid he would never have to pay for the damage. He drove me to the court case with his attitude

the_syco wrote: »

Your gates, your problem.

I'd blame your guests for the damage, rather than the cows. Unless the cows have more intelligence than your guests :pac:


Esp as the land is right next to a farm yard? The mind boggles! Although it may not be 100% effective, it should have been part of the cost of the house.


Either get electronic locks, or lock the gates and tell your guests to park outside.

Are you people for real??
I am farming for over twenty years and have a bungalow with gates which I never close.If my neighbours stock come in off the road then I see him as 100% wrong as they shouldnt be out in the first place.
On the other hand if my stock do damage to someones property ,be it a lawn or crop then its my baby ; no ifs buts or maybes.Thats what we have insurance for.
In most cases an apology and an attempt to fill in holes in the lawn etc suffices esp. if its a once off or rare occurance but if stock are constantly enroaching then thats just taking the p**s
Lads how would you like it if 20 or 30 bullocks came roaring through your yard and ploughed all along the top of the silage pit or burst a few half ton bags of fert.?
You should close the gate if you see cattle on the road but if they come in when you aint there then its hardly your problem if the gates are open
Thought one part of the SFP rules contain a bit re. stockproof boundaries
All I can say is that around here nobody (farmer or otherwise )would put up with cattle constantly roaming.

Hitchens wrote: »

A fella I know of had the same problem as the op, neighbouring farmer's stock encroaching on his lawns on a regular basis, constantly complained but your man more or less laughed at him.

So what he did was get a a loan of a humane killer from his brother who worked in an abbattoir and sure enough a short while afterwards he got up early one morning when he heard them on his back lawn, and took down a nice fat bullock with the bolt gun, rang the brother who tore over and bled the beast out and butchered him and into their respective freezers with him.

The long suffering guy then contacted the farmer and complained about the latest incursion, got the usual response, but, it never happened again.
The perp put ads in the local newsletter looking for his 'stray' bullock and your man used to say he often read the ad while enjoying a nice piece of steak.

I wouldn't have the nerve to do what he did myself, but it was a result on the double!

that guy would have a serious problem on his hands if the farmer ever found out. Sounds like a pub story

bob charles wrote: »

had two cases in the last few years. one involved my animal entering a lawn from my neighbours land after the hunt drove the cattle bonkers and into my neighbours land. Animals then walked a stretch of internal road into the back of his brother lawn. total cost was 2.5k even though there was little damage I had no better to do only let insurance pay up. They seemed to get a serious amount of extra work done and a nice few quid for their pocket aswell. but such is life.

Second incident last year was when dogs drove my animals onto the road and then they ran into lawn about 100m down the road. Damage was pretty minimum and myself and a guy I had working for me spent 5 hrs repairing it. When we finished the lawn was 95% returned to normal. owner wasnt happy so managed to claim a grand off my insurance using a quote off a landscaper I know. Landscaper done 3 hrs work and billed him for €150 in total so the owner trousered the rest. Their are my animals so I can do F all about it. I told my insurance company it was a con, but for the amount of money involved they just pay up.

You've got some pretty lousey neighbours... Did you not just pass the first bill/ complaint onto the hunt... ?? I think if their dogs were any where nere mine again I'd have the gun out( if I had a gun)
Think I would have rung the Gardai about the second case ... Or the insurance company or the A-team or some one

First off op you have a bit of a problem with this farmer. Legally the onus is on the cattle owner to keep his cattle fenced in. However it always amazes me people build houses in the country spend a load of money or work nto lawns flowers and trees and do not put in a cattle grid. Very easy to do first day a messy job after walls and gates done. Cattle may still come accross a grid but it is much less likly unless they are frightened.

I had problems like Bob but it was fella's shooting on the land where cattle were wintering and they broke fences etc but luckily did not go on road however it a pain gathering cattle on a wet Sunday evening in late November when you taught you be in and out in thirty minutes.

OP you have a few choices go to farmer explain the legal position and if he will not comply then go down the legal route. Ask your father to speak to him if you do not wish to. If they are quite cattle ( cows etc) have a cattle box read the next time and take 2-3 to the pound hunt the rest back to him and let him be looking for them.

It is all very well telling you to keep gate shut but we all get caught now and again and the same with electric gates I do not have one and would not expect anyone else to have them.

Last thing on a cattle grid see if you can get 10-12 railway irons the size of your gate fit your self get them the same thickness top and bottom, put in a mid support using concrete blocks maybe few of your family can help out