MPI job cuts 'won't disrupt organisational structure'
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
A Rolleston pig and cattle farmer has been fined $3,500 for failing to euthanise an extremely emaciated calf, with body sores and hundreds of maggots in its mouth.
John William McFall, 55, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the Christchurch District Court yesterday on one animal welfare charge. He incurred fees of $581.50 for veterinary costs and $130 for court costs.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) national manager animal welfare & NAIT compliance Gray Harrison says people have a responsibility to prevent animal suffering and to ensure their animals’ needs are met.
“Mr McFall caused this animal to suffer unnecessarily. It had been left to suffer for 48 hours.”
The charge relates to a visit to McFall’s property by MPI animal welfare inspectors on 3 April 2020 following a complaint from the public.
“Initially, the officers thought the calf was dead. It was extremely emaciated with body sores and hundreds of maggots in its mouth.
“A vet inspection concluded the emaciated calf had been lying down for a significant period, and it had been unable to move for at least a day.
“The calf had been suffering from severe internal parasitism which led to weight loss. This situation was totally avoidable. Mr McFall did not give the animal the care it needed,” Harrison says.
He says the cow would have been extremely stressed because of severe hunger and not being able to get up.
He says any member of the public who is aware of animal ill-treatment or cruelty should alert MPI via the animal welfare complaints freephone so that action can be taken.
After a decade of consultation and court battles, Environment Southland has officially adopted a plan to prevent further decline in the region's water quality.
Farmers are throwing down the gauntlet to politicians - hold an independent inquiry into rural bank lending or face tough questions from the farming sector.
China’s Ambassador Wang Xiaolong says bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and New Zealand has made significant and rapid progress.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
OPINION: This old mutt well remembers the wailing, whining and gnashing of teeth by former West Coast MP and Labour…
OPINION: Your canine crusader gets a little fed up with the some in media, union hacks, opposition politicians and hard-core…