Farm manager broke tails of 116 cows, sentenced to home detention

More than half of a herd of dairy cows like this one suffered severe injuries to their tails at the hands of the sharemilker who owned them. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Four cows needed their tails amputated and 116 suffered pain and permanent damage after a farm manager deliberately broke the tails, some more than once.

In one case, a cow’s tail was left dangling, another suffered torn skin at the site of the injury and others had open wounds at the site of dislocation.

The dislocations, referred to as “broken tails”, were commonly associated with “tail jacking”, when farmers yanked the tails of dairy cows as they were being moved in and out of the milking shed.

Mark Donald Richardson only admitted the animal abuse after pleading not guilty to the crime for more than two years. He was sentenced today in the Hamilton District Court.

According to a Ministry for Primary Industries [MPI] summary of facts, Richardson was a 50/50 sharemilker at Wharepūhunga, southwest of Te Awamutu, between September 2015 and February 2020 when he owned a herd of 165 cattle.

He was the sole day-to-day carer of the animals at the 55-hectare property owned by another farmer.

During that time he inflicted the painful dislocations to the cows’ tails without seeking veterinarian care and the cruel treatment was only discovered when the 48-year-old sold the cows to the farm owner.

MPI investigated and charged Richardson under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 with one representative charge of recklessly ill-treating animals and a representative charge of failing to ensure their physical, health and behavioural needs.

The charges carried penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment and a $75,000 fine.

The summary of facts said a cow’s tail was made up of 18 to 20 vertebrae, attached by ligaments and muscles as well as nerves and blood vessels, and was essentially an extension of the spine.

Most tail injuries were a dislocation of those vertebrae that stretched and ruptured permanently causing inflammation and associated pain.

“The length of time the animal feels the pain and how it reacts will vary between animals based upon the severity of the injury.

“However, the force required to dislocate a cow’s tail is greater than the force required to dislocate a human finger and causes both immediate and prolonged pain and distress.”

MPI said in the summary that where higher percentages of broken tails were present in a dairy herd, it was the result of either deliberate ill-treatment or inappropriate stock handling.

One of the 116 cows with a broken tail after being ill-treated by sharemilker Mark Richardson. Photo / Supplied

Shortly after Richardson sold the herd, the new owner noticed lumps and irregularities in many of the cows’ tails and called his vet who found 116 cows with permanent tail damage including fractures or dislocations.

Most of the injuries were in the mid-third of the tail which was associated with poor handling or “excessive twisting”, the summary said.

MPI said the pain and distress caused to the animals was “unreasonable and unnecessary”.

When Richardson was interviewed about the injuries he admitted he was aware toward the end of his time on the farm there were some tail breaks but thought it was less than 10 per cent of the herd. In fact, it was 70 per cent.

He said he would not have broken the tails on purpose and it would have happened when trying to “bale cows up in the milking shed by moving their tails from behind to get them to go forward”.

Though 116 cows were injured, Richardson was charged with failing to prevent tail injuries to 84 cows because some of the animals were born before 2014 meaning the injuries may have occurred outside the five-year statutory limitation period from when the charges were filed in September 2020.

Judge Tony Couch said the severity of the fractures to the tails of four of the cows was so great a vet had to amputate them.

He regarded the gravity of Richardson’s offending as serious, with 70 per cent of the herd suffering injuries, 49 per cent having more than one break, and 13 per cent suffering four or more injuries.

“It would have been considerably painful to the animals concerned.”

In some cases the cows’ tails were permanently damaged, preventing the animals from being able to use them properly.

“You knew some of the cows had tail breaks. Your neglect was deliberate rather than simply an oversight.”

Judge Couch said the fact four cows needed their tails removed was not the result of an accident.

“It’s unusual that an injury is so severe that it requires amputation.”

Richardson was in a position of trust, Judge Couch said.

“The animals were dependent on you. They were vulnerable.”

Such ill-treatment required a sentence that would set a “general and specific deterrence”.

Judge Couch took a starting point of 18 months in prison and gave Richardson a 20 per cent discount for his guilty plea noting that it came very late in the court process.

This reduced the sentence to 14.5 months’ jail which Judge Couch converted to seven months’ home detention.

Richardson was to carry out the sentence at a farm in Waharoa, near Matamata, where he could continue working as a farm manager.

He was also banned from being in charge of any cattle on a supplying dairy farm for two years, unless under direct supervision, though he could still milk in the presence of other farm workers.

MPI animal welfare acting regional manager Richard Knight said when MPI found evidence of animal neglect or deliberate abuse it took action.

“One of the disturbing aspects in this case was that four of these animals had to have their tails amputated because their injuries were so severe.”

Natalie Akoorie is the Open Justice deputy editor, based in Waikato and covering crime and justice nationally. Natalie first joined the Herald in 2011 and has been a journalist in New Zealand and overseas for 27 years, recently covering health, social issues, local government, and the regions.