S.P.C.A. PROSECUTION

Taranaki Daily News, 11 September 1934, Page 5

S.P.C.A. PROSECUTION

CHARGE AGAINST WOMAN CRUELTY TO CATTLE ALLEGED. QUESTION OF THE OWNERSHIP. Rose. May, a married woman residing at Westown, New Plymouth, was charged at the Magistrate’s Court yesterday with failing to supply proper and sufficient food and water to five cows and two yearling heifers belonging to her and grazing on a farm in Mangorei Road owned by her. The information was laid by the honorary inspector of the New Plymouth branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Mr. B. Tippins. The date of the charge was August 10, 1934. Mr. W. Middleton appeared on the society’s behalf and Mr. P. Grey for Mrs. May. Mr. W. H. Woodward, 1 S.M., presided. After nine witr nesses had Wen heard the case was adjourned until September 24. Mr. Middleton said the farm on which it was alleged the cruelty occurred was of 11 acres. Mrs. May lived at Westown, ' and at the time of the alleged cruelty, the farm was leased by William E. Walker. At first Walker had his own stock, which were repossessed by their owner. Mrs. May then purchased further cows and arranged for Walker to look after them in return for free milk for his household use. Walker would say that he did his best to look after the stock with the food provided by Mrs. May and that he had notified her on several occasions of the condition of the stock. There was a bog on the farm and if the cattle had gone into it it would have been impossible for them to get back to higher ground because of their weakness. For this reason the stock had to be kept on the higher level. The Walkers fed the stock with a little hay they had been able to save themselves in the summer. CONTEST OF OWNERSHIP. The real contest would not be the condition of the cows but one of ownership. There had been numerous acts of ownership on the part of Mrs. May. Actually when the condition of the cows had been brought to her notice Mrs. May had instructed a man named Davis to destroy the stock. She did not ask Walker’s permission or suggest it was necessary. On August 10 one cow was on the ground and on the point of death. Mr. Tippins and Sergeant Clist had a justice of the peace attend the farm with a veterinary surgeon and the justice authorised the destruction of the animal. The veterinarian’s post mortem examination disclosed no disease and the sole cause of death was starvation. It was a particularly bad case and warranted a severe penalty. R. W. D. Robertson, justice of the peace, said he went to the farm on May 10. A cow was on the ground and he had no hesitation in saying its life should be terminated. The other animals on the farm were’in a poor and emaciated condition.

To Mr. Grey Robertson replied that the condition of the other stock was not such that they should be destroyed. There was some evidence of hay having been thrown on the ground. There was not enough hay to place on a fork in the shed. ,

James Hill Motion, F.R.C.V.S., New Plymouth, who gave similar evidence, also said that a post mortem examination revealed that the animal was in an extreme state of malnutrition. There was no evidence of any disease, parasitic or infectious, which would account for its condition. He attributed the cow’s death to starvation. The other cows were in an emaciated condition. The pasture was rough and of no feeding value. Animals in a state of malnutrition developed a paralysis which would make it difficult for them to get out of the swamp if they went there for water. He- had had 10 to 12 requests from Walker to go to the farm, said Hill Motion to Mr. Grey The only one he had from Mrs. May was by letter. Had the cow been lying for a week it might have caused the malnutrition. On August 10 there was a quantity of poor hay—about as much as a man could lift in liis arms—in the shed on the farm. He had instructed Walker on several occasions that it was food, not medicine, that the stock required, said Hill Motion to the magistrate. PHOTOGRAPHS OF CATTLE. Sergeant S. G. Clist said he photographed a cow lying on the ground and the other stock concerned in the charge. The cow destroyed looked as though it would have died in another half hour. The other cows were, in his opinion, in a state of starvation. The farm was devoid of feed. There was no water where the cows were but a partially-filled bucket. Mr. Grey; How do you know the cows were in a state of starvation?—l suppose a man has right to use a little commonsense. You took Walker to town with you. Was he sober?—Perfectly. Mrs. May denied she owned the cows?

—Yes. Arthur Robert Davis, J.P., retired farmer, Stratford, said he received a message from Mrs. May on August 8 to the effect that she was receiving no rent from Walker and no money for the cows and she wanted them sold. He took a dealer to look at them. When the dealer saw the starved condition they were in he would not have anything to do with any purchase. In his opinion the stock were starving to death. He saw Mrs. May that day and said the cows must be fed at once. Mrs. May said she was not responsible, ■ that she had sent five loads of hay at various times and that Walker should have looked after and fed the cattle. Mrs. May communicated with him later and said she would rather have the cows shot than cause them any suffering. Mrs. May said at this time that she would give someone a “fiver” to shoot them. He was to distrain the following day for rent, said Davis to Mr. Grey. Walker refused to let the cattle out of the paddock they were in as they might go into the bog. There was very little feed even in the other paddocks. He did not ask Walker who owned the cows. Walker said the inspectors had been to the place and condemned it. Walker did not deny the cows were his. ■ From his knowledge of dealings with Mrs. May he was confident she would not know whether the cattle were in good condition) or not, replied Davis to Mr. Grey. For instance, when she first bought the stock she thought they were in good condition. Actually they were poor. She did not know the difference between a yearling and a weaner. William Edward Walker, relief worker, said he took possession of the farm on August 23, 1933. The rent was £1 a week. He brought eight cows on to the farm. The security for the rent was an order on half the dairy factory cheque. He had the cows no longer than two months when the owner repossessed them. He told Mrs. May of this and she consulted , a lawyer. Mrs. May then put seven cows and a bull on the farm. The dairy ■ factory cheques and statements were thereafter sent to Mrs. May. He paid his ■ rent from his relief work wages. Mrs. , May sent one load of hay to the farm in the summer and one in the winter. He had asked her for bran and a cover but she said she had no money. The veterinary surgeon advised him to get the j bran and the cover for the particular 1 animal. On one occasion Mr?. May, had I

informed him on the street that she had given the cow some gruel. When he arrived home he found it was his “Quaker Oats” which Mrs. May had given the cow. Mr. . Grey: I suggest the cows were given to you?—That is the first I have heard of it.

What did you do with the skins of the cows destroyed?—l buried them. Only one of the three skins sold had been of Mrs. May’s stock. Mrs. May had given the skin to his wife, said'Walker. . Walker denied Mrs. May had given him the stock. He had a written lease of

the property., Cross-examined’* Walker admitted that in January he told Mrs. May’s husband to keep off the property. He purchased a bull in Mrs. May’s name with her consent. He denied giving the information to the inspector. Ada Maude Ridley said Walker and she resided together as man and wife. When she took the cows to the bog to drink she had difficulty in getting them out again because of their weakened condition and she often had to have assistance. On one occasion when paying the rent to Mrs. May she drew her attention to the poor condition of the stock. That was before August. When the last cow became sick she told Mrs. May and Mrs. May remarked “if it lives, it lives, if it dies, it dies.” Benjamin Tippins said he had 28 years’ farming experience. One cow on the farm was on the ground and due to die shortly, in his opinion, from starvation. All the stock were eventually destroyed at Mrs. May’s instructions. They were not fit to travel a mile. Murdoch McLean, wood and coal merchant, New Plymouth, said he took two loads of hay on January 9 and one on January 10, 1934, to the farm on Mrs. May’s behalf. There may have been a fourth load. The stock were looking fairly well. There was a fair amount of feed about at the time. Mrs. May had not told him to charge the hay to Walker, said McLean. William James Adamson, of Sheehan and Co., skin buyers, Waiwakaiho, gave evidence of the purchase of skins from the Walkers.