Farmer convicted of animal neglect
Shocking pictures show suffering of herd
These shocking pictures reveal a farm of filth with poor Highland cows facing death from exposure.
One baby cow is seen dead in the mud. Another lies helplessly stuck on her back. A third is surrounded by plastic.
The farm is owned by Detlef Meier who was convicted of neglecting the hairy herd after his land was stormed by the Scottish SPCA. He has been ordered to remove all the animals from the Maybole farm.
Neighbour Kerrie Chalmers wants the beasts removed immediately. She has taken photos in the past few weeks showing they are still suffering.
She said: “It is absolutely horrific. I have phoned the Scottish SPCA dozens of times over the last year. What I have witnessed here would never be seen on any farm. The cows have been dirty, scrawny, miserable and so hungry.”
Kerrie, 45, also discovered that Meier revealed to an environmenal health officer that he buried his own waste on the farmland.
The smallholder said: “He is repulsive. He is obviously incapable of looking after the animals. I want to see the cows taken off him. It is disgraceful. If you can’t look after your animals, you sell them. You don’t let them drown.”
Meier, 63, appeared in court earlier this month for causing the death of a young heifer and not providing shelter, proper feeding and water for the herd. Experts believe the calf drowned or died from hypothermia.
But Kerrie believes more creatures have perished on West Mainshill Farm. She said: “I would drive past and there would often be one of them stuck in the mud or dead. It is disgraceful. I keep sheep and pigs and know animals go into the food chain.”
She has been involved in helping pull a calf from the muck with the Scottish SPCA.
Meier is trying to sell his farm and move back to his German homeland. Ayr Sheriff Court heard how a number of the animals have already been sold – and others will be relocated back to Germany. Sheriff John Montgomery has deferred sentencing until January. He ordered Meier to get the animals off the farm as soon as possible.