A New Zealand farmer who was found responsible for the deaths of 610 calves has been placed on home detention for seven months.
Canterbury calf-rearer Lisa-Jane Claire Miller was also banned from owning or being in charge of calves and cattle for five years.
The 54-year-old farmer was sentenced in the Ashburton District Court on five charges under the Animal Welfare Act, following a successful prosecution by New Zealand‘s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
The court also order Miller to pay costs of NZ$3,975.48 (€2,217).
Calves
Between August 2020 and October 2020, Lisa-Jane Miller bought 687 calves to rear at her farm.
A later MPI investigation found the animals started to die within three weeks of arriving at her farm.
MPI team leader investigations south, Mark Sanders told the court that by the middle of September between 15 and 30 calves were dying daily.
“Welfare problems with the calves began early with a scours outbreak and while Ms. Miller did initially seek help, including gaining antibiotics from a veterinarian, the problems multiplied and hundreds of calves that she was in charge of eventually died.
“Ms. Miller did not take the necessary action to prevent or address the issues, including declining an offer from a vet to look into the cause of the outbreak,” he said.
Farmer
In December, MPI received a complaint from a member of the public and sent inspectors and a vet to visit the farm.
“They found more than 100 dead calves scattered around the farm that had died from starvation, another 100 calves in extremely poor condition because of a lack of food, with four having to be euthanised to end their suffering, along with a lack of good grass for grazing and a lack of water for the animals.
“The priority was to ensure the animals were looked after, so the inspector issued a Notice of Direction requiring all remaining calves to be examined by a vet.
“An animal health management plan was also produced for Ms. Miller and a search warrant for the property was obtained and carried out,” Sanders added.
“If Ms. Miller had not neglected these calves and had them examined by a veterinarian when advised to in those early stages – the situation might have been very different.
“As an experienced calf-rearer, she knew what her responsibility was to these young animals but failed them,” the inspector said.