Five yearling cattle were found dead on a farm in Limerick in October last year, with the owner unable to identify any reason for their death. The animals had not shown any clinical signs of illness prior to being found dead.
Five yearling cattle were found dead on a farm in Limerick in October last year, with the owner unable to identify any reason for their death.
The animals had not shown any clinical signs of illness prior to being found dead.
However, they were found near some branches which had been thrown into the field from a neighbouring garden.
Some of the branches were identified as yew (taxus baccata).
Two of the five yearlings were sent to the local Regional Veterinary Lab (RVL) for post-mortem.
On examination, vets at the RVL found yew leaves in the yearlings’ rumen contents and they diagnosed yew poisoning as the cause of death.
The branches of yew trees are often used in decorative Christmas or funeral wreaths, and can be subsequently thrown out on pasture when dried out.
As little as 500g of twigs will kill a 550kg bovine.
The poisoned cattle were among the 410 carcases and 102 foetuses examined in the country’s RVLs. They also carried out 2,972 diagnostic tests on samples sent to them.
Yew tree toxicity leaves five bullocks dead
Cattle poisoning: an often dramatic and sometimes overlooked event
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