CRUELTY' TO A COW.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20722, 15 November 1930, Page 12

CRUELTY' TO A COW.

THRASHED WITH STICK. FARMER ANNOYED BY KICK. "GAOL FOR NEXT OFFENCE." fMY TELEGKAPH. —OWN COKI!ESPONDENT.] NELSON* Friday. A plea of guillv was entered by Edmund Fox VVaslnev, a dairy farmer, of \V:ikapuaka, when charged in tho Police Court with cruelly ill-treating a cow. Senior-Sergeant Butler said that accused thrashed a cow with a manuka stick in order to bring it to his way of thinking. An eye-witness reported the matter to a neighbour and the polico look up the case. Wastnoy had been pro viously convicted on a similar charge in 1927. '

Counsel for accused said it was an unfortunate case. When the cow was being bailed up it kicked defendant, who lost his temper and thrashed tho animal. Counsel said ho was loath to put forward an excuse of war disability in any case, but in this case he considered ho was justified in doing so Defendant had been gassed during tho war and as a result suffered long periods of headaches, during which his temper was fairly thin. Defendant was just recovering from an attack when tho cow annoyed him._ Tho day after tho incident defendant called a veterinary surgeon, who stated that the cow would recover. The magistrate said that on hearing tho sergoant's account of tho caso ho was disposed to send accused to gaol, but ho would take into consideration what counsel had said. Defendant was fined £ls, with costs, and was warned that a repetition of tho offence would send him to gaol.