Motueka lifestyle farmer fined $4200 for leaving cow to suffer cancer that had eaten away eye

Warning: This story includes details and images of animal cruelty that may be upsetting

• Kathryn Rona Saunders was fined $4200 for not treating her cow’s severe cancer eye condition.
• The cow’s untreated growth caused prolonged pain, leading to its euthanasia after an inspector’s visit.
• Judge Tony Snell criticised Saunders for not calling a vet, emphasising her responsibility for the animal’s care.

The owner of a cow whose eye had been eaten away by cancer has been fined $4200 for what a judge, who was also a farmer, said was among the worst cases of the condition he had seen.

The putrid and bleeding growth known as “cancer eye” protruding from the side of the cow’s face was large enough for a veterinarian to see it from 30m away.

Motueka horticulturalist and lifestyle farmer Kathryn Rona Saunders only needed to call a vet, but she didn’t and must now pay the almost $1000 it cost to have the animal put down, plus a $4200 fine.

Veterinarian Roger Bay said it was one of the worst cases of what is known as “cancer eye” he had seen in more than 30 years of practice.

He said the lesion was consistent with squamous cell carcinoma, or cancer eye which was a commonly identified cancer in farmed cattle in New Zealand.

Saunders had earlier admitted a Ministry for Primary Industries charge of recklessly ill-treating an animal, which carries a maximum penalty of a three-year prison term or a fine up to $75,000.

She was convicted in 2002 for failing to prevent or mitigate suffering in an animal, prompting Judge Tony Snell to say it was unusual that MPI was not seeking a disqualification from owning animals.

“I have a photo, and the growth was utterly obvious and would have been obvious to you,” he told Saunders, who stood in the dock in the Nelson District Court with her head hung.

“The cow suffered significant pain and it was all utterly unnecessary,” he said.

Motueka farmer Kathryn Saunders has been fined for failing to properly treat cancer in a cow's eye that meant it had to be put down by a vet. Photo / MPI

Saunders lived on a 20ha lifestyle block in Motueka, where at the time there were 29 beef cattle on the property, including nine animals owned by her son.

In November last year, an Animal Welfare Inspector visited Saunders' property after a complaint about the state of one of the animals.

From the roadside, the inspector saw a Hereford cross cow with a large growth protruding from the side of its head.

The growth, which dripped pus and blood, covered the left side of the cow’s face and had completely enveloped the eye and surrounding facial tissue.

Bay was called to assess the animal, and the inspector contacted Saunders to let her know.

She confirmed the cow was hers and that she had removed a growth from its eye earlier that year.

She said she had removed the cancerous flesh with her hands and then applied an antiseptic wash before giving the cow a penicillin injection.

Saunders said she noticed the growth had returned weeks after the initial removal, but took no action to consult a vet or to have the animal euthanised.

Counsel for the prosecution, Julie Wotton said there was no dispute that Saunders had tried to treat the lesion on the cow’s face, but it wasn’t the appropriate treatment.

She outlined some difficult personal circumstances at that time and acknowledged that she may have “dropped the ball”.

Judge Snell said that did not minimise her culpability, and while she may have let herself down, she had let down the animal in her care.

“I’ve been a farmer and I know about these matters and this is a very large example - I’ve never seen one that big,” he said.

Judge Snell said it was also obvious the cow was in distress.

“Animals don’t have the ability to complain or call on someone else.

“People who look after them must be responsible,” he said.

Saunders met the inspector and the vet on site, who noted the growth had “completely overwhelmed” the eye and surrounding facial tissue on the left side of the cow’s head.

He also noted that the animal was highly agitated and that euthanasia was required as soon as possible, as the lesion was not treatable.

With Saunders' agreement, the cow was immediately put down.

The vet found the lesion to be “highly advanced in size” and had destroyed the underlying eye and the tissues supporting the eye in the socket.

A festering cavity was in place of where the cow’s eye should have been.

The vet said there was a notable smell of decayed putrefied tissue and the associated bacterial infection.

MPI said cancer eye was treatable if caught early enough, but left untreated it almost always progressed.

In this case, the swelling of bone in the cow’s face suggested the cancer had spread.

Bay said the eye was a very sensitive organ; its degradation and collapse was a slow, and at times acutely painful, process.

He believed the growth had been present for more than six months causing the animal to suffer “prolonged, unreasonable and unnecessary pain and distress”.

Judge Snell said the reality was that Saunders should have phoned the vet in July when she tried to remove the growth herself or any time before November when authorities had to intervene.

“It was a very simple fix,” he said.

Defence lawyer Yvanca Clarisse said Saunders had since taken steps to ensure it didn’t happen again.

Judge Snell said if it did, she would be facing a “much more serious” penalty.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.