For almost 40 years now, Maloney & Matthews Animal Collection Ltd have provided a service that sees them collect fallen animals and bring them for rendering.
Over the decades, the company managing directors Vincent Maloney and Jim Matthews have always placed a great emphasis on providing an efficient and loyal service to their customer base which covers parts of Leitrim, Donegal, Galway, Monaghan and of course Mayo and Sligo where they are located on the border between the two.
From their plant in Tubbercurry, Maloney & Matthews operate a fleet of ten trucks that are looked after by Vincent’s son Sean who is the company’s transport manager.
Sean revealed to Irish Tractor & Agri that they have upgraded the fleet in the last few years as they ensure that they have a fleet that is in pristine condition.
“The fleet consist of two Isuzu, five MAN’s, one Volvo and two Scanias. We have changed three of the trucks in the last eighteen months or so, with a new Scania arriving recently,” said Sean.
“We have also bought a new Manitou from McHale Engineering, so there has been a good bit of change on that front. Our trucks are kept at different locations so that they can get to a job as quickly as possible.
“We carry out regular checks on all the vehicles in accordance with the Road Safety Authority regulations, while all repairs are recorded and they are checked annually by the RSA.
“With regards to the transport end of the business, there is a lot more paperwork than there used to be, but it does help keep rogue operators off the road and that is only good for those of us who do everything by the book in this industry.”
Sean added that the drivers play their part in keeping up with those regulations. “Each driver has their own folder and the check their vehicle every morning before they start and record any defects that may need attention.
“We then have the 12-week checks carried and between all of this, it cuts out any unnecessary downtime, which is great, especially at this time of year when we are at our busiest.”
Maloney & Matthews transport all their fallen animals to Limavady in Co Derry for rendering. So, the question had to be asked on whether or not Brexit would be an issue for them?
“I suppose the simple answer is we don’t know what will happen, because I don’t think the decision makers even know what’s going on, but there is a lot of uncertainty there. If we had to pay cross border tax, it wouldn’t be great, but who know how it will all turn out.”
Sean added that they have enough over heads without forking out for more and one cost that seems to keep on rising is the price of insurance.
“Our insurance costs have increased considerably in the last few years. It is gone beyond a joke at this stage. The problem is that there is no outside competition for insurance companies. The regulations are too strict, and it is a closed market. You need competition in the insurance industry, but there is none there really and they can charge what they want.
“Diesel, of course is another issue. There are a lot of overheads when you are working with trucks and trying to keep those overheads down is a task in itself.”
Maloney & Matthews are the only recognised knackery in the area and are authorised by the Department of Agriculture to carry out their duties.
It is the only facility of its kind in counties Mayo and Sligo, which means they are the only business in the region with their own facility to handle dead and worn-out animals. Maloney & Matthews are the only operators in this area approved by The Department of Agriculture and with our own license number (License number: KN65).
The company are obliged to remove fallen stock from any farm within two working days after a request having been received. All fallen stock is delivered to plant where the dead animals are rendered.
The state of the art facility has Department of Agriculture vets carrying out their daily inspections on the fallen animals. All paper work is carried out there to ensure animals are taken off the farmer’s system.
With a modern air filtering system to ensure all odours and smells are removed from the air, the facility has certainly moved with the times and technology now plays a big part in the business.
“We would have a very loyal staff, some of who have been with us for many years now. They are on first name terms with our customers and they have been sympathetic with the farmers’ needs over the years.
“Our aim is to provide local farmers with a competitively priced and reliable collection service. The collection charges are extremely competitive across the board particularly where larger, mature animals are concerned.
“All our staff is trained to remove all fallen stock in a professional manner with the minimum of fuss and disturbance to the farmers involved. Dead animals represent an unwanted cost on every farm and it is our aim to make the removal cost effective and a straight forward process.”
Maloney & Matthews carry all the necessary licences and certificates needed to operate legally and they always strive to meet any legislation implemented.
Contact Details:
Maloney & Matthews Animal Collection Ltd
Sligo: Tel: 0719121928 | Mayo: Tel: 0949541555
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 7 No 4, August 2019
Maloney Matthews Animal Collection
