Ms Lockhart challenged the appointment, saying it raises legitimate questions around perceived conflict of interest, institutional independence and whether a review conducted by a single veterinary professional can provide the breadth of scrutiny required.
 
The person appointed to lead the ‘independent external review’ into the barbaric shooting of 51 cattle at the end of June, is the Republic of Ireland’s former chief vet Dr Martin Blake.
 
The MP said: “I want to be absolutely clear. I am not questioning Dr Blake’s personal integrity, professionalism or considerable expertise. This appointment must meet the very high threshold of independence, both actual and perceived, that is required given the seriousness of what happened during the controversial cattle cull.
 
“The question is not simply whether someone is capable of carrying out a review. The question is whether the person appointed is sufficiently removed from the professional structures, relationships and areas of work being examined for farmers and the wider public to have complete confidence in the outcome.”
 
The DUP Agriculture spokesperson is calling on Minister Muir to reconsider the structure of the review and replace the single-person model with an independent, multidisciplinary panel.
 
She added: “Minister Muir needs to go back to the drawing board. There has been significant anger and concern following the shambolic incident, and the Department simply cannot afford to get the review process wrong.”
 

Dr Blake served as Chief Veterinary Officer in ROI for more than a decade. Carla Lockhart MP explained: “There are longstanding professional and operational relationships between the veterinary authorities north and south. However, given the circumstances of this review, those relationships inevitably will give rise to legitimate questions about perceived independence which the Minister should have anticipated.
 
“There are also claims and commentary circulating regarding cattle depopulation and slaughter operations undertaken in ROI during Dr Blake’s tenure. Those matters need to be properly established rather than assumed, but they further demonstrate why Minister Muir should have carried out, and published, a robust assessment of any actual or perceived conflicts before pressing ahead with this appointment.”
 
Ms Lockhart reiterated: “Again, this is not an allegation that Dr Blake has done anything wrong. Nor am I suggesting his professional relationships would influence his conclusions. The point is that an independent review of this magnitude must be designed so that there can be no reasonable question over its independence. Perception and public confidence are key.
 
“Dr Martin Blake has extensive professional experience. Indeed, his veterinary expertise could potentially form one part of a much broader panel. But one veterinary professional alone, should not be expected to examine every aspect of what happened.
 
“This is not solely a veterinary matter. There are questions about legal authority, decision-making, animal welfare, firearms and operational procedures, proportionality, communications, alternatives to shooting, accountability and the chain of command. No single professional discipline can adequately scrutinise all of those issues.”
 
“DAERA cannot be seen to appoint someone from essentially the same professional sphere to mark the Department’s homework. Public confidence in DAERA is already extremely low, as was very evident at Stormont on Monday, and this decision risks deepening that lack of trust,” she said.
 
The MP said the minimum acceptable response should be a robust, in-depth review conducted by an entirely independent, multidisciplinary panel.
 
Ms Lockhart continued: “That panel should draw on expertise extending well beyond veterinary medicine, including legal, animal welfare, firearms and ballistics expertise, operational and decision-making experience and appropriate representation capable of understanding the practical realities facing farmers.
 
“A panel provides checks and balances. It brings different professional perspectives to the evidence and ensures that decisions taken by one discipline can be properly tested by experts from another. Given the scale and seriousness of what happened, that is the level of scrutiny required.”
 
The MP stressed: “The events surrounding the execution of the court deprivation order, which resulted in the slaughter of 51 cattle as they grazed in fields near Fivemiletown, has caused enormous public anguish and left many serious questions unanswered.”
 
She added: “The more we learn about that fateful day, the decisions taken, the alternative options available and the numerous questions that remain unanswered, the clearer it becomes that a review conducted by one individual, from one professional discipline, is simply not sufficient.
 
“Farmers and members of the public do not want another ‘lessons learned’ review that wastes time and taxpayers’ money. They want credible, factual answers and accountability.
 
“Questions surround who made the decisions, and on what evidence; what alternatives were considered, why those alternatives were rejected, who authorised the operational approach and whether everything that happened was lawful, necessary and proportionate,” said Ms Lockhart.
 
“This review cannot be allowed to become yet another departmental exercise that produces a report, makes a few recommendations and is quietly brushed under the carpet.”
 
“The Minister and DAERA have an uphill task ahead in rebuilding trust with the farming community and wider public. The first step should be recognising that the present structure does not provide the breadth or level of demonstrable independence that this case demands”
 
The MP said it was indefensible that DAERA Chief Veterinary Officer Brian Dooher, and Permanent Secretary Katrina Godfrey, failed to attend the AERA Committee’s extraordinary meeting at Stormont.
 
She added: “There is already a petition circulating calling for the resignation of the Minister and the Permanent Secretary. The strength of feeling across the industry should not be ignored.
 
“This is bigger than the suitability of one individual. It is about whether DAERA is prepared to subject its actions to genuinely independent, multidisciplinary and rigorous scrutiny.
 
Ms Lockhart concluded: “Dr Blake’s professional credentials are not in question. But the appropriateness of asking one former government Chief Veterinary Officer, with longstanding experience within the same professional sphere, to single-handedly review the actions of another government veterinary service most certainly is.
 
“Ultimately, those at the top of the DAERA must take responsibility for what happened and for restoring public confidence. Nothing less than a process which commands the confidence of farmers and the wider public will now suffice.”