increase font size
The man who was charged in March this year over alleged bobby calf offences has pleaded guilty to all 10 charges.
Thirty-eight-year-old Noel Pirika Erickson, admitted the charges when he appeared in the Huntly District Court yesterday.
The charges were laid under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and relate to Erickson's treatment of 115 bobby calves over two days in August 2015 when he was working as a slaughter man at Down Cow, a slaughter house near Te Kauwhata.
The charges Erickson has pleaded guilty to include two charges of wilfully ill-treating a calf and representative charges of recklessly ill-treating calves, ill-treating calves, and using blunt force trauma.
The penalties for the offences range from a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment or maximum fine of $100,000 (or both), to charges carrying a maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment or a maximum fine of $50,000 (or both).
Erickson will be sentenced on July 28, 2016.
The Ministry for Primary Industries laid the charges as part of its investigation into the alleged mistreatment of bobby calves.
The investigation began in September last year after MPI received many hours of footage recording alleged offences involving bobby calves in the Waikato region.
MPI Acting Director of Compliance, Steve Gilbert, says MPI takes animal abuse very seriously.
"The mistreatment of animals will not be tolerated. When we get information about the mistreatment of animals, we investigate. When there is offending, people are held to account."
MPI recently consulted on new bobby calf regulations as part of a wider animal welfare regulations consultation process.
Gilbert says once the bobby calf regulations are implemented, MPI will work with farming, transport, vet and processing groups to ensure everyone is informed and made aware of the new rules.
"We will work with all interested parties to support their introduction". MPI laid a further four representative charges against a company and an individual last month in relation to alleged animal welfare offences involving bobby calves.
The first hearing for those charges has been set down for June 21, 2016.
MPI investigators are actively pursuing other lines of inquiry and, as these matters are both under investigation and before the court, MPI is unable to comment any further.
Lincoln University Dairy Farm will be tweaking some management practices after an animal welfare complaint laid in mid-August, despite the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigation into the complaint finding no cause for action.
A Māori-owned agribusiness helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sectors wants more industry support.
Massey University has begun trialling the use of superior beef genetics in its two dairy farms as part of Beef + Lamb New Zealand's dairy beef progeny test.
Animal rights protest group PETA is calling for Agriculture Minister Todd McClay to introduce legislation which would make it mandatory to have live-streaming web cameras in all New Zealand shearing shed.
The New Zealand Merino Company (NZM) says it will investigate claims of animal cruelty made by animal rights group PETA.
Red meat farmers and processors are welcoming a US Government announcement - removing its reciprocal tariffs on a range of food products, including New Zealand beef.
OPINION: As negotiations advance on the India-New Zealand FTA, it’s important to remember the joint commitment made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the beginning of this process in March: for a balanced, ambitious, comprehensive, and mutually beneficial agreement.
Minister for Universities, Shane Reti, has opened the final new build in a ten plus year project to upgrade the veterinary facilities at Massey University.
As New Zealand experiences more frequent and severe flooding events, the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO Scheme) is urging consumers to be honest and accurate when making insurance claims for flood damage.
A recently held arable field day in the Manawatu brought with it a timely reminder to be on the lookout for velvetleaf incursions.
In a significant shift for employers, wage theft is no longer only a civil matter but now also a criminal one.
OPINION: Is it now time for the country's top agricultural university to start thinking about a name change - something…
OPINION: If David Seymour's much-trumpeted Ministry for Regulation wants a serious job they need look no further than reviewing the…
