KEY POINTS:
An Otago farmer has been banned from the commercial farming of sheep for at least a decade and will have to pay more than $30,000 in fines and costs for failing to look after the welfare of his flock.
Two of John Dempster's three farms had to be completely de-stocked and the home farm was able to support only 300 animals, the Dunedin District Court heard.
A total of 1153 sheep were sold and another 445 sheep had to be killed on the farms because chronic under-feeding had left them in poor condition.
The sheep were inspected by an animal welfare investigator in June 2006 after a complaint from a member of the public.
