Farmer bans for abuse of livestock on the rise

The number of farmers banned from owning livestock because of animal welfare issues has risen in the past two years, new figures show.

Seven farmers have been banned from owning livestock so far this year, for reasons including reckless ill-treatment of animals and negligence, data from the Ministry for Primary Industries showed.

Last year, two farmers were banned, one in Nelson and one in Morrinsville, while three were banned for failing to meet animal needs in 2017.

Animal welfare infringement notices are also on the rise, with 244 issued between January and April, compared with 177 in 2017 and 252 last year.

Earlier this year, Northland farmer Kenneth Charles Wood, 62, was banned from owning cows for two years after being found guilty of animal welfare offences. He was also fined $5000.

MPI received a complaint about the state of some of the cattle on Wood’s Oruawharo property and said at the time it was an avoidable situation where the animals had suffered unnecessarily.

MPI director of compliance services Gary Orr said a ban on owning livestock would be sought if a farmer had a history of mistreating animals or animal abuse.

Orr said the vast majority of farmers looked after their animals, it was only a small percentage that let the sector down.

He said MPI had a graduated enforcement model, which meant people were offered advice in the first instance.

If the advice wasn’t taken, a $500 fine would follow and if abuse or neglect continued, a prosecution would be sought.

‘‘We have confidence that the vast majority of farmers are compliant. When we do identify non-compliance we will prosecute, take action and monitor thereafter,’’ Orr said.

‘‘Fines will work but if farmers are going to continue farming, do you want them to continue operating?’’

He said high-risk farmers would be monitored if they wanted to continue farming after their ban was lifted.

Orr said 58 per cent of complaints investigated by MPI found no animal welfare offence had been committed.

Federated Farmers animal welfare spokesman Chris Lewis said MPI was active in the industry.

‘‘There are always people who do really well, who should be congratulated, but there are always those who let the side down,’’ he said.

Lewis said commercial farmers worked long hours to ensure their animals were fed and looked after, adding the job was ‘‘bloody hard’’.

He said education around animal welfare was important – ‘‘we should all know right from wrong’’.

The latest data, released to Stuff under the Official Information Act, showed MPI received a total of 274 animal welfare complaints from January to April this year.