A FORMER Northern Ireland government vet who resigned from her job after raising concerns about animal welfare has received an ‘unreserved’ apology and a major payout.
Dr Tamara Bronckaers, originally from Belgium, had worked for the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs since 1999 but resigned in 2018. She blamed hierarchy for effectively forcing her out as she felt no-one was taking her concerns seriously and that continuing to work under the circumstances was breaching the ethics of her job.
During the course of her job as the senior vet in charge of livestock markets, zoonosis and biosecurity, Dr Bronckaers noticed some discrepancies within cattle movements which were subsequently deleted from the department’s traceability system.
Around 40million is spent each year in Northern Ireland in a bid to prevent bTB from entering herds, therefore the system is a vital tool to trace movements. Also, meat plants pay more for animals that have been moved four times or fewer during their lives to cater for supermarket animal welfare criteria.
In September 2021, Dr Bronckaers, 54, won a landmark action against DAERA relating to serious breaches of animal welfare, failures regarding zoonoses control measures and traceability within the meat supply chain, which ultimately resulted in her constructive dismissal.
Dr Bronckaers said: “The past few years have been extremely harrowing for me and my family. This outcome has been a long time coming and I can move on...
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