Psych counselling and home detention for man who mistreated dairy herd

A man appeared in Dannevirke District Court after MPI investigated reports of a large number of cows on a farm with their tails broken. Photo / NZME

A man who was investigated for wilful mistreatment of cows was given home detention and barred from owning farm animals in Dannevirke District Court on Friday.

Bernard Dunlop was given credit for the fact he had no previous convictions and his willingness to deal with the issue properly when he appeared before Judge Jonathan Krebs.

The Ministry for Primary Industries launched an investigation in May 2019 after it was found 127 cows had one or more breaks in their tails on Dunlop's family farm in Dannevirke.

Judge Krebs noted that Dunlop had been in charge of 152 cows.

If only a few had breaks, they could have been accidents, but the number that had those was concerning, he said.

The breaks were high up in the tails, close to the hips which suggested there was a significant amount of force required.

Judge Krebs said cows would often use their tails to flick at flies and in the case of where those breaks were, that could cause them ongoing pain, or restrict their movements.

He said none of the cows had been treated or provided with pain relief.

Many of the incidents had been the result of Dunlop losing his temper.

Two cows had also been ill-treated by being dehorned without anaesthetic.

Judge Krebs said the incidents indicated an abuse of a position of trust.

Dunlop's lawyer Darren Foster told the court there were a number of personal factors.

He said his client had left farming and was now working in a factory, with no intentions to return to farming.

However, Dunlop had undergone a psychological assessment which put things in a different perspective.

"You've had a number of stressors in your life."

Judge Krebs said he was not going to send Dunlop to prison, but he did need to impose a sentence to hold him accountable.

Due to the fact Dunlop was now in a job that required shift work, home detention was the appropriate sentence.

He was given four months and two weeks' home detention and would have to undergo counselling.

Dunlop was also disqualified from owning or having control over farm animals indefinitely, although he could apply to have that lifted after two years.

Joanna Tuckwell, MPI Regional Manager Animal Welfare and NAIT Compliance said the investigation was launched following a routine inspection of the Dannevirke farm by animal welfare inspectors.

She said a further investigation was underway, but no charges had been filed at this stage.