Mull man’s neglect made cattle suffer

A Mull man who caused his cattle herd unnecessary suffering has been ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

Paul Chauvet, 57, and of previous good character, blamed it on a fall-out with the estate owners of the grazing land he was leasing.

Chauvet, of River Lodge, Gruline, was at Oban Sheriff Court last week where he admitted between March 1, 2018, and March 1 last year failing to provide the 100-strong cattle at Pennyghael with adequate nutrition and with treatment for internal parasitic infestations so that the animals became severely malnourished and emaciated.

In particular, there were two bulls mentioned and a calf that had got caught in a fence and died. The skin conditions caused some of the cattle to itch and expose patches of bare skin.

During that time, he also failed to take reasonable steps to make sure the needs of the animals were met. Grazing was sparse, no supplementary feeding was provided, although there was a mineral tub, and he did not address the possibility of weaning calves that were not thriving.

The court was also told the stock was not separated so females of all ages could be accessed by all the males. A number of females were pregnant despite being too small. There were also three bullocks that had been incorrectly castrated, read the charges he pleaded guilty to.

As well as carrying out the unpaid work, Chauvet was put on a supervision order for nine months to make sure his continued care of animals met requirements.

The offences came to light on February 6 last year when a carcass of one of his bulls was found. It had been dead for some time. It was reported to the appropriate authorities and the site was examined.

Another visit on February 12 was made when a second of Chauvet’s bulls was found to have died. Three days later, it became apparent to officials that the accused would be unable to comply with their requirements to treat parasites, not because he was unwilling but because the vet he used was incapacitated.

The site was investigated again and the offences he admitted were identified.

Eddie Thornton, defending, said his client had originally taken over the herd from his employers who had previously given them up. He was more than capable of looking after them.

But difficulties set in after his job as a deerstalker was terminated and the relationship between Chauvet and his ex-bosses, who owned the grazing land, became ‘some what acrimonious – there is still an ongoing civil matter’, the court heard.

‘Because of that, my client found it extremely difficult to carry on with his husbandry duties. It became impossible for him. He accepts it was his responsibility to look after the animals but the root cause was out of his control. He tried to find alternative grazing but he couldn’t. He did take steps to reduce the size of his herd,’ said Mr Thornton, who added Chauvet had since secured a five-year deal for grazing on forestry land, keeping just nine cattle and 38 sheep.

Sheriff Patrick Hughes said he was satisfied it was not necessary to ban Chauvet from keeping livestock.