Daniel Kilsby-Halliday appeared in Levin District Court on Thursday. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
A well-known farmer let 29 cows in his care starve to death but has managed to avoid being disqualified from farming.
Daniel Kilsby-Halliday, 40, of Horowhenua, was also responsible for the malnourishment of 28 additional cows.
He appeared in Levin District Court on Thursday charged with three counts of reckless ill-treatment of animals, one of ill-treatment of animals and one of failing to comply, for which he has been fined $32,500.
The court heard the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) received a complaint in August 2021 after a member of the public spotted dead cattle in a small paddock about 200 metres from Kilsby-Halliday's home.
There was no feed and the grass had been chewed down to the stalks.
When an MPI inspector attended, they discovered the dead cattle and the undernourished cows.
The inspector estimated the cows that had died did so from prolonged starvation over a period of around three weeks.
Their condition would have been obvious to someone who had been checking on them, the court heard.
A vet carried out a post-mortem and concluded the dead cattle had bone marrow fat percentages that were well below what could be considered "chronic starvation".
The same vet found multiple factors had led to the death of the animals, including limited supervision, inconsistent stock management, overstocking and underfeeding and ineffective parasite control.
Judge Lance Rowe said that Kilsby-Halliday should have known better as he came from a long lineage of farmers, had a degree in the field, held leadership roles within the farming community and had entered the Young Farmer of the Year competition multiple times.
"In some ways, it's a surprise that this happened to someone who was so well-qualified and so accustomed to the needs of farms and agricultural practices."
Judge Rowe acknowledged Kilsby-Halliday was facing a combination of stressful circumstances at the time of the offending, including losing a farm manager and a worker, and that there was illness in his immediate family.
But a significant number of animals had suffered over a prolonged period, the judge said.
"I don't think you checked on these animals for weeks.
"I think basically, this is a situation where you had forgotten about these animals."
However, Judge Rowe decided against disqualifying Kilsby-Halliday from farming, finding the offending appeared to be a genuine mistake and a one-off.
The negligence was "out of character", the judge said.
"I don't think this will define you in the long term."
Defence lawyer Nicholas Jessen told the court his client had a previously unblemished record, took steps to nurse the remaining animals back to health and was extremely remorseful for his actions.
"He's learned his lesson in terms of making greater use of contractors to take the load off him," Jessen said.
Jessen said Kilsby-Halliday had "farming in his blood" and was attached to his animals, which made his offending personally upsetting.
"This is not a case where there was any callousness."
Following the sentencing, MPI national manager for animal welfare, Gray Harrison, welcomed the outcome.
"Today's sentence should send a strong animal welfare message to all people in charge of animals - there are consequences for poor care of animals," he said.
"Mr Kilsby-Halliday is an experienced farmer and knew what his responsibilities were to his animals. Most farmers do the right thing for their animals - checking on them regularly and taking action if they notice changes in their health - but he didn't."
This story was originally published on the New Zealand Herald.