Levin farmer fined for deaths of 29 cattle

Daniel Kilsby-Halliday,  40, was sentenced in the Levin District Court on 5 charges under the Animal Welfare Act following prosecution by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

The court also ordered Kilsby-Halliday to pay $7,161.20 in veterinarian and associated costs.

In August 2021, MPI responded to a complaint of at least 10 dead cattle seen in an area of Kilsby-Halliday’s farm.

An animal welfare inspector visited the property and found a total of 29 dead cattle which a veterinarian estimated would have died over the course of approximately three weeks from starvation and disease.

Two other cattle were euthanised by the farmer before MPI arrived to assess all cattle.

59 other cattle were moved to other paddocks with moderate grass cover before MPI visited. Of these, 27 were considered so thin that urgent action was needed to improve their condition.

Gray Harrison, MPI national manager, animal welfare and National Animal Identification & Tracing (NAIT) compliance, says the cattle would have been in a state of severe distress because of a lack of food.

“Some were also affected by parasites and some of them would have died where they collapsed because they were too weak and could no longer get up off the ground,” he says.

“The cattle were about 200 metres from the farmer’s house and their slow deterioration should have been noticed through regular checks of his animals. People in charge of animal are responsible for their welfare at all times including providing sufficient food and timely veterinary care. Mr Kilsby-Halliday failed to meet these expectations.”

“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. When we find evidence of neglect or cruelty, we will investigate and put the matter before the court,” Harrison says.

MPI strongly encourages any member of the public who is aware of animal ill-treatment or cruelty to report it to the MPI animal welfare complaints freephone 0800 00 83 33.