The Department of Agriculture yesterday slaughtered 90 calves smuggled into the Republic from Northern Ireland which were found on a Co Clare farm near Limerick city.
Acting on an anonymous tipoff to the local District Veterinary Office, gardai and Department officials moved onto the farm at Clonlara over the weekend.
Yesterday, the animals, which the Department described as "being of dubious origin", were slaughtered at a Co Limerick meat plant and blood samples were taken to test for exposure to foot-and-mouth disease.
This is the largest single group of calves found by investigators since the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain on February 21st.
No information was available last night on the ages of the animals or when they might have been taken across the Border or by whom.
The District Veterinary Office in Clare appealed to the public for help in locating smuggled animals, especially Friesian bull calves which have little value in the North but are worth upwards of £100 here.
Livestock smugglers and their clients have been in a panic since the foot-and-mouth crisis led to a freeze on animal movements and nationwide checks on stock.
Over 120 young calves and other livestock have been abandoned untagged on roads in Co Tipperary and one group was left to die in a wooded area to avoid detection.
Meanwhile, three months after the first confirmed outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain, four new cases were confirmed there yesterday.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development in Dublin is still awaiting the results of blood and tissue samples which it sent to Pirbright at the weekend from a sheep in Co Carlow and a calf in west Cork.
The change in the regulations covering the acquisition of permits for intra-farm movement has been welcomed by the farm organisations. These permits may now be obtained from the local district veterinary office rather than through a central location at Bandon, Co Cork.
Farm-to-farm sales of cattle under permit have meant a resumption of trading but it will take many weeks before the build-up of stock on farms will be reduced to manageable levels.
As marts are not operating, the market price for animals is difficult to determine on a national basis.