Wiltshire farmers sentenced for ill-treating cattle
Inspectors visiting in 2019 found three dead cows on their smallholding
A farming couple from West Wiltshire has been sentenced to 100 hours of unpaid community work and ordered to pay fines after admitting poorly treating their cows.
Nicholas Shearmon (55) and Diane Shearmon (41) who are smallholders have been prosecuted by Wiltshire Council for ill-treating cattle and have also been banned from keeping, owning, dealing in or transporting cows for 10 years.
Officers from Wiltshire Council’s Animal Health Team and vets from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) while visiting the farm on November 19, 2019, discovered three of 12 cows had died, and many of the remaining cows were in poor body condition and weak.
Swindon Magistrates Court heard that on the November 27, 2019, an Animal Health Officer had instructed Mr and Mrs Shearmon during a visit to call a vet within 48 hours for a cow which appeared to have laboured breathing, but they did not.
It was later discovered that the cow had collapsed and needed urgent veterinary attention. This animal was subsequently euthanised by Mr and Mrs Shearmon’s private vet.
The Seend smallholders pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to three cows, which at post mortem were found to be chronically malnourished and having a lungworm infection as well as causing unnecessary suffering to an anaemic and dehydrated cow by failing to seek veterinary attention.
They also admitted they failed to protect nine cows from risks to their health by preventing access to a muddy pond containing debris, isolate ill or injured animals in appropriate accommodation or hold three carcases in such a manner that no animal or bird had access to them, among other offences.