Northland dairy farmer sentenced to home detention for cruelty to bulls

Judge Philip Rzepecky sentenced farmer Kenneth Wood to home detention for abusing bulls under his care at Whangārei District Court.

A veterinarian had to euthanise three bulls with horrific injuries after fence wire wrapped around their legs for months while they were under the care of Kaipara dairy farmer Kenneth Wood.

The 64-year-old has been on two previous occasions convicted and fined $5000 for animal-related offences but has yet to pay.

He appeared in the Whangārei District Court last week for sentencing on four charges of animal cruelty after being earlier found guilty at a judge-alone trial.

The charges were laid by the Ministry of Primary Industries.

Wood was sentenced to five months' home detention and disqualified from having control over animals for five years.

Judge Philip Rzepecky said he would not impose a fine only as the offence was serious.

Wood was in charge of between 60 and 70 cattle on a farm in Dargaville between August 2019 and February 2021 when MPI inspectors identified three bulls suffering as a result of injuries to their legs from fence wire.

The injuries were present for months and in the case of one bull, for years.

Significant fibrous tissues were present and a considerable force was required to remove the galvanised fence wire from the lower leg of two of the bulls while another had ulcers of the bone and a chronic abdominal infection. All bulls had to be euthanised.

Wood told the judge he had plenty of assets but was facing cash flow problems.

He said he'd been a dairy farmer for 25 years and a sentence of home detention would inhibit his ability to arrange the sale of a farm to satisfy his creditors.

When MPI animal welfare officers visited his farm, the judge said they discovered knocked down fences, no usable yards, no oversight of animals, there was a complete failure to maintain the boundary fences, with animals roaming on to neighbours' land and Wood's unwillingness to engage with labourers.

"In fact, some of your neighbours came to court and said when they tried to deal with you over issues with your property, you became rude and abusive to them.

"There are no mitigating factors in this offending. You brought nothing to court to suggest there's any major reason why you couldn't keep your property in a proper state of repair.

"I don't believe that you didn't have the means to do better. You need more than a fine to punish you and register society's condemnation of the abuse of these animals, especially when you seek to profit from them. You're a farmer, you're seeking to profit from these animals and you're not looking after them."

Wood was also ordered to pay $1881 in vet fees to MPI.