Welfare of farm stock ‘shocking’
Two animals were in a 'shocking state'.
A cow was seen lying dead in a drain and dozens of starving, emaciated cattle were found at the farm of a man who has been banned from owning animals for two years.
A welfare visit to the Urenui farm run by Joseph James Ernest Cover was made in November 2016 following a complaint to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) animal welfare hotline regarding cattle in extremely poor condition and a cow seen dead in a drain.
On Wednesday, Cover was sentenced by Judge Chris Sygrove at New Plymouth District Court on three animal welfare charges.
In a summary of facts, an expert veterinarian called to the scene described two downer cows found in a hayshed as being in a ‘‘shocking state’’.
‘‘I have never seen a downer cow left to deteriorate to this extreme state,’’ he said in the report.
The Jersey heifer was dull and depressed in demeanour and emaciated, with prominent hip bones, pin bones, ribs and spine. Her body was scarred, bruised, had areas of missing hair and was heavily infested with ticks.
The Ayrshire cow was covered with pressure sores, unable to move her hind limbs, reeked of ammonia and decomposing flesh, and was also severely emaciated.
Both cows were dehydrated and had no direct access to water.
Despite his obligation under the animal welfare act, Cover had sought no veterinary intervention for either cow.
Both were killed at the vet’s recommendation, but not before Cover debated the advice.
Cover has farmed for more than 40 years and at the time the charges were laid he was the owner and person in charge of the predominantly undeveloped beef cattle breeding/grazing property of 747 hectares.
Very few of his cattle had the legally required tags and according to the summary Cover was not sure how many he was farming.
‘‘I would be the first to admit I have too many on,’’ he said.
It is understood he had a minimum of 190 cows on his property.
During the welfare check, the inspector found mobs of cattle in different paddocks consisting of all ages, sexes and classes mixed together.
The lactating cows were visibly affected by the shortage of feed and were in extremely poor condition.
The farm’s infrastructure was also poor and areas of the farm were heavily littered with loose wire, broken machinery, corrugated iron and broken window panes.
The vet’s assessment was that 32 cows at the front of the property had insufficient feed to meet their needs and as a result were considered emaciated.
On a different part of the farm, cattle had free range over a large area of a paddock and were in good condition.
However, about 20 sheep were fully fleeced and many had extensive dags making them vulnerable to flystrike.
The inspector issued Cover with written instruction on how to remedy the issues.
Follow-up compliance checks were met with resistance by Cover and he showed a lack of remedial action in relation to the underfed animals, the summary said.
As a result he was convicted on two counts of ill-treatment of animals and one of failure to prevent suffering.
In total he was fined $28,687.50, ordered to pay $3151 in reparation to MPI and disqualified from owning animals for two years.
It is not known when the ruling begins, but when the Taranaki Daily News attempted to make contact with the 68-year-old at his O¯ koki Rd property yesterday cows and goats were seen on his land.
His lawyer has also been approached for comment.