Stock left to starve
6 December 2007
A North Canterbury farmer was today sentenced to fines and costs totalling $16,232.50 for allowing his stock to suffer from malnutrition brought on by prolonged starvation. He was also disqualified for a period of 5 years from owning or having an interest in sheep, (ewes, hoggets and lambs) and cows.
Robert MacGregor pleaded guilty to four charges under the Animal Welfare Act 1999.
In sentencing His Honour Judge Neave pointed out that this legislation is designed to protect animals that can have if anything, vulnerability greater than children, and that the penalty must reflect the gravity of the offending.
In August 2006 a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s (MAF) Animal Welfare Investigation Team found 12 dead sheep on the defendant’s property, including three in the garden of the homestead. Others were alive but in poor condition and appeared weak. There was very little grass feed available.
Two large pits were discovered on the property containing burnt and partially decomposed carcasses. The first overflowed with carcasses onto the paddock and 50 sheep were counted on the top of the pile. In total 139 dead sheep were located, 62 of those were very recent deaths.
The property had been subject of an earlier MAF investigation in June 2006.
“This is a very sad case of a farmer failing to seek assistance and act when circumstance and conditions got on top of him“, said MAF’s Investigations Manager, Greg Reid.
The defendant explained he had had problems with ewes lambing early and a cold weather snap. He stated he didn’t know how many sheep were on his property or how many had died, calling the situation a ‘disaster’ and admitting it had been this way for some time. Veterinary assistance had not been sought, primarily due to cost considerations.
“The Animal Welfare Act 1999 places responsibility on anyone who owns animals to prevent them suffering pain and distress. In this case Mr MacGregor failed to act, which had devastating consequences. He tried and failed at farming, avoiding simple and manageable problems which had a cumulative effect. When this occurred Mr MacGregor simply left the animals to die – it’s a shocking case and was particularly traumatic as so many animals needed to be euthanased”, Mr Reid said.
A post-mortem on some sheep found they had suffered from starvation due to a significant and prolonged shortage of feed. Further tests showed the presence of internal and external parasites which would have contributed to the pain and distress they suffered.
Media Contact:
- Greg Reid, Investigations Manager, MAF Biosecurity New Zealand
Phone: 029 909 3544