Carrickmacross, Ireland: Irish army snipers have been accused of shooting dead five cattle at a farm after being called in by debt collectors for confiscating animals.

A shocking video of the alleged incident has been uploaded online. The video shows a group of snipers taking their aim at the animals and targeting them.

The shooting took place in the Irish town of Carrickmacross.

According to an Irish Mirror report, the cattle-owner, identified as John Hoey, claimed that the animals were shot at with high velocity rifles after the people trying to handle them lost their control.


Defending their stand on the shooting, the snipers said that the targeted animals were suffering from TB. However, Hoey said that he had no such information.

Hoey also added that instead of gunning down the animals, they should have been tranquilised.

"Some of the cattle had five and six holes in them through the head. They were shooting them and the cattle wasn’t dropping and they kept shooting them,” Hoey was quoted as saying by a radio channel.

The Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine issued a statement confirming the deadly killings.

The incident has triggered a debate on whether the armed Defence Forces should be allowed to keep live ammunition with them while assisting bailiffs.