The Canterbury businessman held responsible for the death of a rare Sumatran tiger at Wellington Zoo has lost his livelihood, on top of hefty fines and compensation.
Mark Russell Johnson, trading as Dog's Delight, yesterday admitted 17 charges brought under the Meat Act.
He was fined a total of $3750 on threeof the charges, and convicted and discharged on the others by Christchurch District Court Judge David Holderness.
The judge said the payment of $40,000 compensation to the zoo by Johnson was a big factor in mitigating the penalty.
Johnson's factory licence had already been revoked and he had lost his $100,000 business, which he spent 17 years building up, as well as product worth about $25,000.
The Food Safety Authority's investigation of tiger Jambi's death last November found that it ate a contaminated piece of meat from Dog's Delight laced with the animal tranquillising drug pentabarbitone.
The contamination occurred through an inadequate separation between the company's meat-processing arm and its business removing dead animals - some medically euthanised - for burial.
Wellington Zoo is happy the whole matter is effectively over. It will use the compensation to replace Jambi with another Sumatran tiger, or even a pair.
Zoo spokesman Mark Turner said Johnson had "certainly paid the price" for his actions, but he did not feel he had paid too heavy a price.
The authority said Johnson's conviction and punishment were necessary.
"This country relies on the integrity of the systems we have in place to protect our reputation as a trusted supplier of food both nationally and internationally," said compliance and investigation director Geoff Allen.
Judge Holderness said Johnson's licence did not authorise slaughter of animals at the premises, but only the processing of stock killed elsewhere.
When interviewed, he had admitted animals were slaughtered at the factory, and up to 100 animals had been killed and processed in nine months.
