Rotomanu farmer faces charges of animal cruelty

Photo / NZ Herald

A Rotomanu farmer will stand trial early next year for his part in the starvation and death of hundreds of cattle.

David Anthony Ham faces charges of animal cruelty and failing to keep stock adequately fed and watered, alongside Jeremy William Usher, and his father Robert William Usher.

In 2012, Ham leased a farm and 300 cows to the Ushers, which once combined with cows they owned took the total number of animals on the property to more than 900.

However, a Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) inspection on August 28 that year found 636 of the 926 cows on the farm were in "very poor condition", having suffered from starvation for three to four months previously.

Of those, 128 animals had to be immediately sent for slaughter while a further 152 had to be shot on the spot. The rest of the herd was distributed to neighbouring farms to recover, leaving just 50 animals on the farm.

Both Ham and the Ushers were subsequently charged with animal cruelty and failing to keep stock adequately fed and watered.

However, at a hearing in the Greymouth District Court on August 26, Ham's lawyer Michael Smith argued that the charges against Ham should be dismissed because MPI had failed to prove he owned any of the animals.

He also argued that Ham was neither the owner nor the person in charge of the animals due to his having leased the cows and farm to the Ushers.

Mr Smith said all the cattle leased by Ham bore national animal identification and tracing (Nait) tags, and because none of the animals which were found either dead or starving on the farm bore those tags, it couldn't be proved any of the animals belonged to Ham.

In his judgment, Judge Raoul Neave said there was no statement provided by Ham, and therefore no evidence for the tagging.

"I am simply not in a position to say at this point definitively who owned the stock. It therefore follows that there is evidence which suggests the stock is owned by the defendant [Ham]," Judge Neave said.

Evidence from farm hand Christopher Curtis and farm manager Sean Curran alleged Ham helped out on the farm with tasks such as milking and mending fences.

Fellow farmer and Federated Farmers West Coast chairwoman Katie Milne also alleged she saw dead cows on the farm while flying overhead in her plane and she contacted Ham to tell him what she had seen.

Judge Neave said the evidence showed there was a pattern of knowledge accumulated where "there was a clear duty on the defendant to take steps. Some of the evidence is capable of being construed as an admission he was aware of the situation."

The judge said it was "no answer" for Ham to point to the stock lease, as he had an obligation for the animals which he could not "contract out".

"The lease, if anything, confirms these obligations... I consider there is sufficient evidence that the defendant was reckless in respect of the care of these animals."

All three defendants will appear in the Greymouth District Court via audio visual link with the Christchurch District Court on October 24 for a pre-trial hearing.

- the Greymouth Star