Distressing Discovery During Family Litter-Pick
A seven-year-old boy, while litter-picking with his family earlier this week, discovered several dead lambs inside a bag on a country road near the village of Cappagh in County Tyrone.
Ursula Bradley, the boy's mother, described the experience as deeply upsetting for her son.
"He had a lot of questions - as a parent that was really hard,"
She added that the discovery left him "quite distraught".
Official Response and Further Findings
Mid Ulster Council issued a statement confirming they had been informed of the incident and have contacted the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera), which is responsible for investigating such matters.
The BBC has reached out to Daera for comment.
In addition to the bag containing the deceased lambs, decomposed carcasses of other animals were found in hedges and ditches nearby.
Bradley recounted the grim scene:
"We found two more dead lambs on the same road, it's the last thing you expect to find, it was awful for someone to dump them like that.
There are a lot of families that walk these roads and my son was very upset that night, he was asking what he could do for the lambs, it was very upsetting."
Community Concerns and Animal Welfare Issues
Independent Mid Ulster councillor Kevin McElvogue noted that this is not an isolated incident.
"It has happened too many times in recent years, we've had lambs dumped, calves dumped, horses dumped, it makes me sick to my stomach.
I would say to people, if you have a dead animal, please dispose of them properly, there are companies locally that do it, it's the right thing to do."
Recent weeks have seen wider animal welfare concerns in the Mid Ulster Council area. Last month, a horse was euthanised after being found having seizures in a muddy field outside Dungannon. Two additional dead horses were discovered near a wet ditch at the back of the same field. It took two weeks before the carcasses were removed.
Daera is responsible for the welfare of farmed animals, while councils oversee the welfare of domestic pets in Northern Ireland, including horses.
Statistics on Animal Welfare Offences
New data obtained by NI reveals that over the past five years, there have been 262 convictions in Northern Ireland courts for animal welfare or cruelty offences. Nearly 75% of those convicted were male.
Further along the road near Cappagh, larger skeletal remains of animals, believed to be horses or cows, were found in a ditch.
"We have had problems with litter and waste dumping, and the whole reason we organised the litter-pick was for the community to come together and improve their area,"
McElvogue explained that waste dumping and fly tipping have been ongoing issues in the area for several years.
Waste Dumping and Fly Tipping Data
Between 2020 and 2025, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) recorded over 3,400 waste dumping incidents across Northern Ireland, with more than 150 involving animal dumping.
During the same period, 31 convictions were secured for fly tipping offences, mostly involving male offenders, resulting in fines.
Community Reaction
Bradley expressed that the dumping of animal carcasses intensifies the problem of fly tipping and waste dumping.
"I understand that animals will die in farming situations and like that, it's inevitable but there is a humane way of disposing them, not this, it's actually disgusting."
