A number of farmers in Co Limerick fear a new wave of animal deaths after a pedigree cow was hit by a mystery cancerous growth.
Farmers in the Cappagh/Askeaton area of Co Limerick say they are still in the dark two years after a report failed to discover why hundreds of cattle and horses died on a handful of farms locally in the 1990s.
Yesterday one farmer, who has lost 180 cattle since 1989, was preparing to put down one of his Friesians, which recently developed a large cancerous lump on its shoulder.
"It started about two years ago when she developed a spot the size of a nail on your finger. Since then it has continued to grow and another one is starting to grow near her tail," said the farmer who didn't wish to be named.
"I've lost about 180 cattle since 1989 and I have had to sell my milk quota to pay for my bank overdraft.
"I can't believe that two years after the EPA carried out a report on the animal deaths in the area we still don't know what is causing it.
"I think an independent investigation into all the industry in the area needs to be carried out in order to find out why our livestock our dying," he said.
Yesterday a group of farmers from the Cappagh Farmers' Support Group met with Mr Pat O'Rourke, president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, who travelled to Cappagh to see the latest animal hit by the mystery cancer.
"In my 30 years of farming I have never witnessed this type of growth on any animal, it's just shocking," said Mr O'Rourke.
"Clearly this is something unique to the area and it's alarming for people living here that they have no answers to what's causing it.
"I don't think people want any more reports they just want answers," he said.
After six years of analysis a report published in 2001 failed to discover why animals on the farms died.
Researchers from the agricultural study group Teagasc, the Veterinary Laboratory Service, the Mid-Western Health Board and the Environmental Protection Agency conducted the analysis.
Meanwhile, Mr Pat Geoghegan, spokesman for the Cappagh Farmers Support Group, says locals in the area are also alarmed by the apparent high incidents of cancer-related deaths among residents living locally.
He claims that the number of such deaths has increased from 39 to 70 in just two years.
"The cancer situation here has doubled in the last two years and there is also a lot of people suffering from respiratory problems.
"We have a high rate of by-passes in men and a number of women have had miscarriages," said Mr Geoghegan.
A report carried out by the Mid-Western Health Board in January 1995 responding to local worries that human illness might be linked to that of animals found no evidence for increased cancer risk in humans living in the region.