A Dargaville calf rearer has been fined $15,000 over his poor treatment of calves, with 13 found dead, and others having to be euthanised.

Vivian Philip Flett (50) was sentenced on Friday (September 26) in the Dargaville District Court on five charges under the Animal Welfare Act, following a successful prosecution by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

Mr Flett was also ordered to reimburse MPI $4,312.63 for associated veterinarian costs.

Following a complaint, MPI Animal Welfare inspectors paid three visits to the farm to examine the animals.

“Thirteen dead calves were discovered in paddocks and six others had to be euthanised,” says Brendon Mikkelsen, MPI’s Regional Manager, Animal Welfare and NAIT Compliance.

“We also found that most of the calves weighed between 20kg and 50kg less than they should have been.

“We weighed 250 calves during our inspections and all but 12 were underweight.

“These welfare problems were avoidable if Mr Flett had been providing sufficient feed and meeting the physical health and behavioural needs of his animals.

“The farm lacked quality pasture and some of the calves struggled to eat supplementary feed, which was mouldy hay and whole kūmara.

“It was Mr Flett’s responsibility to do the right thing by his animals. In this case that meant providing quality supplementary feed, identifying health problems and seeking timely veterinary help, all of which he failed to do. When we find evidence of animal neglect, we take action,” Mr Mikkelsen says.

Animal welfare is everyone's responsibility and MPI strongly encourages anyone who is aware of animal ill-treatment or cruelty to report it to the MPI animal welfare complaints freephone 0800 008 333.

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