CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #9913 Rating: 3.0 out of 5
Sheep neglect - 13 dead
Christchurch, CB (NZ)Incident Date: Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Myles Forsey
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A Canterbury farmer has pleaded guilty to a charge under the Animal Welfare Act following the deaths of 13 sheep this winter.
The RSPCA laid a charge against Myles Forsey for failing to ensure the physical health and behavioural needs of his animals were met in accordance with good animal practice.
Forsey pleaded guilty to the charge at a status hearing at the Christchurch District Court and will be sentenced on November 2.
RSPCA lawyer Richard Raymond says the offending took place between May and June 2006 and resulted in seven sheep being found dead and a further six having to be destroyed.
Case UpdatesA Canterbury farmer has been fined $3,000 and banned from farming for five years for neglecting his stock.
The case was bought by the SPCA who found seven dead sheep on Myles Forsey's farm on the outskirts of Christchurch last year. Six more sheep were later put down. They had suffered starvation and were riddled with worms.
Forsey initially denied owning the sheep but then admitted ownership and that his sheep drenching regime was not up to scratch.
He says June's heavy snow worsened the situation, although this was rubbished by the SPCA.
"Certainly the snow and the harshness, the wetness of this winter...didn't help. But it wasn't the cause... these are animals that were underweight well before that," says SPCA spokesperson Geoff Sutton.
The SPCA say his actions were unforgivable and other offenders will not be tolerated
"We will no longer only look at rectifying the problem, people will be brought to account. That level of neglect is unacceptable," says Sutton.
The judge presiding the case agreed, saying Forsey abdicated his responsibility to the stock and that it should have been abundantly clear they were in a grave situation.
Forsey has been disqualified from farming until 2011. | Source: TVNZ.Co.NZ - Nov 2, 2006
Update posted on Nov 2, 2006 - 12:16PM |
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