Calls have been made for tougher sentences to be handed down for those who are convicted of the illegal killing of deer.
It’s after a Clare judge said he wouldn’t criminalise a man who pleaded guilty to shooting a deer in Scariff last January.
The Irish Wild Deer Association says Clare is a blackspot for this type of criminal activity as Clare FM’s Fiona McGarry reports:
The Irish Wild Deer Association says it’s only a matter of time before someone is injured or killed on account of the illegal shooting of deer.
It follows comments at Killaloe District Court by Judge Patrick Durcan this week, as he ordered a man who pleaded guilty to shooting a deer in Scariff in January to pay 100 euro into the court poor box, saying he wouldn’t criminalise him.
Judge Patrick Durcan added that the state should be doing more to control the wild deer population.
The IWDA says it’s since been inundated with calls from landowners in Clare, who are fed up with people trespassing on their land and discharging firearms at night.
The Clare County Chairman of the IFA agrees that this is a serious issue, especially in East Clare, and he believes the market for wild venisson is driving this type of activity.
Willie Hanrahan says more regulation is needed within the market to put a stop to it.
