NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Home detention for Noel Erickson over cruelty to bobby calves

Natalie Akoorie
By Natalie Akoorie
Local Democracy Editor·NZ Herald·
28 Jul, 2016 12:32 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The slaughterman whose cruel mistreatment of bobby calves was caught on camera has been sentenced to home detention. MPI compliance operations manager Gary Orr said the offending involved a significant number of calves who were treated with extreme cruelty. "It would be nice to be in a society where young and vulnerable animals like this were not treated in this fashion."

The slaughterman whose cruel mistreatment of bobby calves was caught on camera has been sentenced to home detention.

Noel Erickson, 38, has escaped a jail term but was sentenced in the Huntly District Court today to 10 months home detention and 200 hours community work.

Judge Merelina Burnett called the mistreatment, which involved the kicking, hitting and throwing of bobby calves, as "outside the job description" of Erickson, who was a casual slaughterman at pet food business Down Cow, near Te Kauwhata, in August last year when he was secretly filmed by Farmwatch New Zealand.

Noel Erickson, 38.
Noel Erickson, 38.

The judge accepted Erickson's remorse and noted he was in considerable distress but said the scale of the unnecessary cruelty was evident.

Erickson had earlier pleaded guilty to 10 charges including two of wilfully ill-treating a calf, recklessly ill-treating calves and using blunt force trauma.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The court heard how Erickson, who was emotional in the dock, dragged, hit, kicked and threw 115 bobby calves over two days at Down Cow.

Judge Burnett said the calves were vulnerable because they were newborns.

They were meant to be stunned and then killed but one was hung on a meat hook still alive.

Others were thrown or kicked with such force it would have caused pain and suffering, she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Erickson's lawyer said his client was not given sufficient instruction and felt he could not disobey his employers because he was struggling to support his wife and 4-year-old daughter.

Judge Burnett accepted Erickson was not adequately trained or supervised.

MPI compliance operations manager Gary Orr said the offending involved a significant number of calves who were treated with extreme cruelty.

"It would be nice to be in a society where young and vulnerable animals like this were not treated in this fashion."

Discover more

New Zealand

Shocking video: Calves 'beaten to death'

29 Nov 04:30 PM
Agribusiness

Shocking video: 'We saw calves torn from mothers'

29 Nov 11:57 PM
Opinion

Catriona MacLennan: Action needed on shocking dairy cruelty

29 Nov 09:05 PM
Business

'NZ dairy contaminated with cruelty'

06 Dec 01:00 AM

Outside the court animal activist Lynley Tulloch, who operates a bobby calf rescue programme, said the sentence was weak.

"This was a landmark case and it demonstrates New Zealand's lack of commitment to animal welfare."

Save Animals From Exploitation executive director Hans Kriek said the sentence was finally justice for the abused calves.

However, he said SAFE remained concerned not enough was being done to protect the welfare of millions of calves born into the dairy industry each year.

Around two million calves were surplus to requirements each year.

The abuse was brought to light after Farmwatch secretly filmed Erickson in a hidden camera sting.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Ministry for Primary Industries launched a probe last September following release of the footage.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Widespread internet outages reported across New Zealand

20 May 08:52 AM
New Zealand

'Straight-out thuggery': Boxing chief slams Dan Hooker-backed $50k fight event

20 May 08:35 AM
Politics

NZ scraps $100m a year tax after Donald Trump's 'extortion' claims

20 May 08:10 AM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Widespread internet outages reported across New Zealand

Widespread internet outages reported across New Zealand

20 May 08:52 AM

Customers across the country began reporting problems about 7.30pm.

'Straight-out thuggery': Boxing chief slams Dan Hooker-backed $50k fight event

'Straight-out thuggery': Boxing chief slams Dan Hooker-backed $50k fight event

20 May 08:35 AM
NZ scraps $100m a year tax after Donald Trump's 'extortion' claims

NZ scraps $100m a year tax after Donald Trump's 'extortion' claims

20 May 08:10 AM
'Heartbroken': Father jailed after breaking baby's leg, arms, ribs and skull

'Heartbroken': Father jailed after breaking baby's leg, arms, ribs and skull

20 May 08:00 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP