Bromham farm handed £25k fine for numerous animal welfare offences
Pigs kept at the farm was exposed to unnecessary suffering
A Wiltshire farm has been handed a £25,000 fine after being prosecuted by Wiltshire Council animal health officers.
Roger Keen Farms Ltd of Sandridge Farm, Bromham was found to have caused 'unnecessary' suffering to the pigs it was keeping on the farm.
The company pled guilty on 7th May at Swindon Crown Court, before being handed the fine at Bristol Crown Court in June.
Council animal health officers visited the farm in August 2021, with a Senior Veterinary Inspector (SVI) from the Animal & Plant Health Agency, where they discovered 15 pigs with health issues.
The SVI requested five of them were put down that day.
A post-mortem found joint lesions in four of the five animals were chronic nature and were believed to have been present for a number of days, causing a 'considerable degree of suffering in live animals',
Upon interview by officers, Mr Keen blamed employees for the failings at the farm, but evidence suggested overcrowding was among the major contributing factors, as well as a lack of experienced staff.
The farm stopped keeping pigs in 2022.
Sophia Hepple, from the Royal College of Veterinary Science Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law acted as expert witness for the prosecution.
In her statement she said: "Mr Keen was responsible for multiple counts of permitting unnecessary suffering to pigs under his care and responsibility. The housing and accommodation were dirty, unhygienic and there were multiple examples of where there were unnecessary risks of injury or disease risk within the accommodation, due to lack of action to fix things promptly or to remove things promptly.
"There was lack of environmental enrichment for the pigs, serious cases of tail biting, ear biting and cannibalism, yet no clear evidence to justify tail docking, because there were no records being kept of tail biting incidents, causes nor attempts to improve the environment for the pigs to try and reduce such incidents occurring.
"One of the most serious issues was failure to take prompt action on ill and injured animals, including isolation into more appropriate hospital environments when necessary, treatment when necessary and a complete failure to seek veterinary advice or to cull the animals promptly when such animals failed to improve. Animals were allowed to suffer unnecessarily for weeks, with no clear decision making being taken on chronically ill or injured pigs. Even when directly requested to euthanise animals by the APHA, staff appeared to avoid doing this."
Cllr Dominic Muns, Cabinet Member for Public Protection, said: "The vast majority of Wiltshire's farmers and livestock owners take good care of their animals.
"Wiltshire has a small and dedicated team of Animal Health and Welfare Officers who work to enforce the legislation designed to help protect animal health and welfare. When it is found that animals are not being taken care of properly, our hard-working officers won't hesitate to act decisively.
"We're pleased with the court's decision in this case and hope that it sends a strong message this will not be tolerated in Wiltshire."