KEY POINTS:
A herd manager has been fined $4000 for knocking down two dairy cows with a quad bike, then running over them.
Peter Peevers, of Gore, also repeatedly punched another young cow in the udder, after it defecated on him, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) said.
Peevers was trying to move two uncooperative heifers off a calving pad when he became angry and knocked both animals down with a 350cc quad bike.
Having pushed over the first animal, he kicked her repeatedly, and when the heifer would not get up, drove the quad bike over the animal several times.
The herd manager then left the bike parked on the heifer, put a chain around the heifer's throat and attempted to pull it with a tractor.
The heifer's head slipped out of the chain and she ran off.
Peevers then used the quad bike to knock the second heifer to the ground, before it ran under an electric fence, where she got stuck. Peevers pushed it through the fence, leaving it with a bleeding nose.
In a separate incident, another heifer defecated on Peevers and he was seen repeatedly punching her in the udder.
The animal cruelty involved was "inexcusable", MAF animal welfare investigations manager for the Charles Cadwallader said.
He welcomed today's decision in Balclutha District Court to fine Peevers $4000, with costs of $380.
Peevers pleaded guilty in the court to two charges under the Animal Welfare Act, which related to two incidents lasting over an hour on a Gore dairy farm in August 2006.
Mr Cadwallader said that MAF would have welcomed a higher fine for the "shocking, unprovoked attack on two defenceless animals" but noted Peevers had lost his job because of the behaviour.
When interviewed by MAF's animal welfare investigation team Peevers said he had "lost the plot" and admitted knocking both animals over with a quad bike and kicking one heifer in the nose.
- NZPA
