CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #5236 Rating: 2.3 out of 5
Dairy cow neglect
Woolnorth, WA (AU)Incident Date: Sunday, Aug 31, 2003
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Albert Thomas Ainslie
Albert Thomas Ainslie, 49, who previously pleaded not guilty to the charges, changed his plea to guilty on Aug 1 and one charge was dropped by the prosecution.
He faced two charges of doing an act that caused suffering to an animal and one count of an act that resulted in the serious disablement of an animal.
The court heard that Ainslie, of Smithton, was the manager of The Denium dairy farm, owned by New Zealand-based company Tasman Agriculture, for two years from 2002.
In September-October 2003, RSPCA animal welfare officer Frank Bingham and DPIWE agricultural officer Colin Jessup visited the farm.
They found an overcrowded and unhygienic calf-rearing shed, cows with ribs and backbones showing and a cow too weak to get up which had to be euthanised.
The prosecution showed a video of the cows filmed on two visits.
The court was told Ainslie had told Mr Jessup he agreed the calf shed was overcrowded and there wasn't enough food for the cows.
He had said he was unable to dry the cows off without being given instructions from Tasman Agriculture.
Defence counsel Jonathon Smith argued that Ainslie was extremely limited in what he could do on the property, and the company had all the power.
Mr Smith said Tasman Agriculture had control over the farm's stocking rate, supplement supply and whether the cows were milked or dried off.
The court heard Ainslie was required to milk an extra 300 cattle on the property in 2003 after the company brought drought cattle from Victoria and transferred about 100 cattle from another farm.
"There was not enough feed on the farm for the amount of stock the company had placed on the farm," Mr Smith said.
Ainslie had made repeated requests for cattle food and had sent a fax requesting pellets, which Mr Smith said were delivered after the RSPCA visit. References |
