Farmer devastated after 1080 drop kills his deer herd

A West Coast deer farmer has been left devastated after most of his herd was poisoned by 1080 pellets meant to kill possums.

The 1080 was dropped over the Kaiata farm near Greymouth, and stock thought to be in a "safe zone" suffered hideous deaths.

A warning - some of the images in this story may disturb.

Kaiata deer farmer Wayne Fairhall and his partner witnessed twelve of their herd dying agonising deaths from 1080 poisoning.

“They sit there and writhe around in agony, they don't know what to do, they can hardly walk,” Fairhall says.

“It was absolutely horrific, the feeling of not being able to do anything to help, I don't have a gun, I couldn't put it out of its misery, it was hideous,” says deer farmer Anthea Thomson.

Now just three of their deer remain.

Fairhall says he was aware an aerial 1080 drop was targeting possums in native bush at the rear of his property, but not in his deer paddock.

“I had absolutely no idea that this was in their flight path, because otherwise there wouldn't have been animals here and they wouldn't have flown in here anyway if they'd known,” he says.

But Vector Control Services who carried out the drop say they believe they flew within the boundaries they were instructed to.

Regardless of who is to blame for the fatal mistake, it has now made these farmers staunch opponents of the poison.

“After watching what happens and how easily mistakes are made I would never ever allow it again, totally against it,” says Andrea Thomson.

Earlier this week a Department of Conservation report called for a review of the use of 1080.  After several kea died from eating the poison near Fox Glacier.