Latest conviction for gelding horse shows it is 'common'

Animal welfare experts say illegal castration of horses remains widespread after a second man in recent weeks was found guilty of performing the procedure.

Opotiki justice of the peace George Hata, 69, was convicted in the Tauranga District Court yesterday of castrating a 9-month-old colt without reasonable cause.

His conviction follows that of Northland man Maxwell Joseph Lee Anderson, 37, who was last month found guilty of castrating a 2-year-old colt without anaesthetic.

The horse belonging to Hata survived, but Anderson's died two days later.

Both men will be sentenced this month and face a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a $25,000 fine under the Animal Welfare Act.

In a third prosecution by the SPCA in 2000, a South Island man was ordered to pay $3000 in fines and costs. In each case, castration was deemed a "significant surgical procedure" under the 1999 act.

Such procedures cannot be performed by anyone but a veterinarian or someone under direct supervision of a veterinarian, and must be performed with anaesthesia. The Animals Protection Act 1960 also forbids castration of horses without anaesthetic.

But the SPCA and veterinarians say the practice remains prevalent, particularly among horse owners in poor rural areas.

"They think, 'We've always done it - my grandfather did it, my father did it, why can't I do it'?" SPCA inspector Jim Boyd said.

"But this is 2006, it's not pre-1960."

Mr Boyd, who prosecuted the Northland case, said the practice was covert and usually discovered only if the horse died or something went wrong and a vet was called.

Opotiki veterinarian Sandra Hegh, a witness in the Hata case, said of the East Coast area: "There are so many geldings around and we don't do anywhere near the number of castrations that there are geldings."

Mr Boyd said the practice was unacceptable for the pain it caused the horse. "If we imagine [the pain] in human terms, it's probably not far different."

The New Zealand Veterinary Association said there were multiple risks to the horse, including bleeding to death and infection.

"There's no excuse for a lay person to carry out this procedure, which we condemn," chief executive Murray Gibb said.

Vets charge $200 to $400 for castrations, but Mr Gibb said expense was also no excuse.

"If you take on ownership of animals, you take on the whole nine yards, the legal duty of care that goes with those animals."