A livestock haulier has been fined over £6,500 for causing unnecessary suffering to calves while transporting them from a farm in Dorset to a slaughterhouse in Wiltshire.
47-year-old John Edward Pritchard from Shaftesbury appeared before Weymouth Magistrates Court on Wednesday (April 5) for sentencing, having previously pleaded guilty to two charges under the Animal Health Act 1981.
The prosecution was brought by Dorset Council following investigation by their trading standards team.
Pritchard was given an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £6,495 plus a £22 court surcharge – a total of £6,517.
Insufficient headroom
The court heard that on November 3, 2021, Pritchard collected the group of calves from a farm near Sherborne in his double-decked livestock trailer.
When Pritchard dropped the calves off, a member of staff at the slaughterhouse noticed that the calves on the lower deck had injuries on their backs where they had bumped against the roof support of the upper deck on the journey.
Some of the injuries were up to 10cm long and an examination of the carcasses after slaughter revealed deep bruising, Dorset Council said.
Dorset Council said Pritchard’s trailer was only designed to carry sheep when both decks were in use, because there was “insufficient headroom” on the lower deck for calves to stand.
Pritchard transported the calves on the two-hour journey to the Wiltshire slaughterhouse and CCTV footage of the unloading of the calves showed that the ramp angle for the upper deck was too steep for calves to safely walk down.
The maximum permitted angle for such a ramp is 20°, Dorset Council said, but Pritchard’s was over 40°, which resulted in the calves stumbling and falling down the ramp.
The court heard that to transport the calves safely and legally, Pritchard should have only used the lower deck on the trailer with the upper deck folded away.
The slaughterhouse’s official vet examined the calves and concluded that they had been caused unnecessary suffering.
Councillor Laura Beddow, Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for culture, communities and customer services, said: “Our trading standards team work with all people involved in the livestock industry to ensure the welfare of the animals in their care is their priority. Where basic welfare standards are compromised formal action can and does follow.
“All livestock transporters have a clear responsibility to ensure that whilst the animals are in their care they are protected from harm.
“Where there is evidence of unnecessary suffering we will intervene and consider formal enforcement action.”
