Wednesday, 27 January 2021 11:00

Any charges?

Written by The Hound

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

Your old mate wonders if the over-reaching do-gooder who set up a North Canterbury cow sanctuary “to save retired dairy cows and bobby calves from slaughter” will face any charges for animal cruelty.

‘Til the Cows Come Home’ was established in July 2017, to great media (mainstream fanfare), as a “safe haven for rescued farm animals”.

At one stage, some 200 cows were housed at the ‘sanctuary’.

However, an MPI investigation last year found that many of the ‘rescue cattle’ were sick, starving or in terrible condition – and a number had to be euthanised.

The person who ran the ‘sanctuary’ claimed: “I tried my hardest for so long, sleepless nights, stress beyond belief, full-time work, hours of feeding, cleaning...until it all came crashing down.”

All very sad, but any farmer who did the same thing would rightly be prosecuted by MPI – so let’s hope the animal welfare bureaucrats are consistent and file charges!

More like this

MPI defends cost of new biosecurity lab

The head of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) biosecurity operation, Stuart Anderson, has defended the cost and the need for a Plant Healht and Environment Laboratory (PHEL) being built in Auckland.

MPI’s Diana Reaich: Building global trade relationships

Relationships are key to opening new trading opportunities and dealing with some of the rules that countries impose that impede the free flow of trade.

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

Burn the village

OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."

Purist problem

OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.

Featured

Levies return 26c/kgMS per year in value, DairyNZ reports

Milksolids levies paid by dairy farmers over the past six years have generated nearly $3 billion in value, according to an independent review.

Landowners urged to trim trees to prevent major power outages

Power bills could be lower, and power restored faster following a storm if landowners took greater responsibility for trimming trees - so they don't come down on transmission lines.

Hawke’s Bay farmers donate livestock to support rescue helicopter

A Hawke's Bay farming family of self-confessed 'frequent flyers' has donated the proceeds from their spring lambs.

Biosecurity NZ ramps up hunt for yellow-legged hornet on Auckland’s North Shore

Biosecurity New Zealand is intensifying its campaign to locate and eliminate the invasive yellow-legged hornet, following confirmed detections on Auckland's North Shore.

Canterbury farmer Sean Molloy joins New Zealand Pork board

Following a recent director election, Canterbury farmer Sean Molloy has been appointed to the New Zealand Pork Industry Board.

India-New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA) dairy outcomes

OPINION: As negotiations advance on the India-New Zealand FTA, it’s important to remember the joint commitment made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the beginning of this process in March: for a balanced, ambitious, comprehensive, and mutually beneficial agreement.