Donegal farmer describes how two stags were shot and left to die in agony

Two young stags were shot dead and “died in agony,” according to Joseph Brennan of Fintown.

The two stags were shot during the night in Fintown last week.

Mr. Brennan who runs the red grouse sanctuary, ‘Cró na mBraonáin,’ in the area said that the shooting of the animals can only be described as “repulsive”, adding that the incident took place during a night last week.

He said that there were regulations from the National Parks and Wildlife Service that did not allow hunters to use lamping and such devices. He added that under the Wildlife Act, 1976 that shooting of deer is not permitted from dusk until dawn.

He told the Donegal Democrat: “They were definitely shot at night. They weren’t in the field in the evening and they were there in the field the next morning.”

The well known activist who inspected the killings in a field said that the stags had been clawing the ground which dictated that the creatures were not killed outright but rather died in agony.

“It is just repulsive. They died in agony. Obviously the scum that shot these two were disturbed before they got to drag them away in the of night from this field. They were left to die in agony thrashing around on the ground.”

He urged people to call the authorities if they are aware of people hunting in their area at night.

“I would beseech everyone not to fuel the illegal venison trade by buying meat from poachers and if you see jeeps and trailers and big spotlights searching the fields as you pass by, note the registration number and ring gardaí. A proper hunter with a permit would have got rid of the bodies in the proper manner,” he said.