[ad_1]
A Taranaki dairy farmer who broke the tail of 136 dairy cows was fined $ 40,000 and placed under intensive supervision.
A young calf (file). Source: istock.com
Lane Rodney Wiggins was also found to have docked the tails of 26 cows.
The 53-year-old man previously pleaded guilty to two counts under the Animal Welfare Act and was sentenced yesterday in Hawera District Court.
For the first charge, related to breaking cow tails, Wiggins was fined $ 35,000. On the second charge, related to cutting the tails of cows, he was fined $ 5,000.
Your intensive supervision will last two years.
“This condition means that Wiggins will have an immediate inspection of his herd by a professional designated by MPI. He will then be required to undergo follow-up inspections every six months, at his own cost,” the Ministry of Primary Industries said in a statement.
MPI Regional Animal Welfare Manager Joanna Tuckwell says there is no excuse for the behavior that led to these injuries.
“Although farmers sometimes use a cow’s tail to lead the animal where it should go, the best practice is not to lift or twist the tail. It takes excessive force to break a cow’s tail.
“The cows that Wiggins deliberately abused would have suffered considerable pain. This action was simply cruel and unnecessary, ”he says.
MPI initiated an investigation into tail breaking and tail docking on its farm in June 2018. Two MPI animal welfare inspectors and a veterinarian inspected the tails of 195 cows.
“The inspection found that 136 of 195 cows in his herd had broken tails. Of these, 111 of these tails had multiple breaks, between 2 and 6 per tail,” reports MPI.
“Of note is the fact that 130 of the 136 cows’ tails were assessed to have breaks in the middle or upper sections of the tail. This section is the thickest part of the tail and would have required considerable force to cause a break”.
Wiggins’ explanation for the tail breaks was that he was under time pressure and had bent the tails while pushing the cows into the milking shed.
