Farmers appear in court over animal cruelty charges

I cannot believe what I have just read! I am in complete amazement that these grown men with families would find it an acceptable way to treat an animal. I am horrified that they are even bothering to defend themselves. Maximum penalty seems like a joke considering the pain that cow would have endured. I am sick of hearing stories of maltreatment of animals in this country. Having worked on a dairy farm myself there are far better ways to deal with dying animals than carting them around impaled and still alive. I hope these men realise how disgusted the country is with behaviour like this!

Let's hope the courts do give the poor animal some justice. This behaviour is absolutely disgusting and will put European consumers off NZ meat produce if they believe animals are treated so abominably. Our animal health and treatment practices in this country are observable and commented upon by our foreign consumers.

All credit to the policeman who cared and did the decent thing; acted with compassion and no doubt courage. One wonders about the quality of the farming practices that led to the cow being in such a poor state as to warrant this awful attention. How many other animals have suffered similar awful fates at the hands of either of these two? Fortunately many other farmers are equally appalled and disgusted by such callous cruelty and hope the courts act very firmly to support the police and SPCA. How can these two possibly call themselves farmers and what treatment would they consider approriate for people or even their families? Maybe there is a divine justice.

I think that they should receive the maximum penalties. Farmers get away with far too much when it comes to the unethical treatment of animals. These are experienced farmers. The cow should not have suffered at all...they should have known how to properly kill the animal with no suffering involved. And why impale the animal? Isn't simply lifting it onto the tractor enough? They need to be made an example of. Until farmers are PROPERLY punished for their mistreatment of stock they will keep doing it.

I can't imagine there is a viable and plausible excuse for this cruelty. I know a farmer, and his favourite quote is "where there are live cows there are dead cows" so I appreciate farmers are perhaps somewhat detached. This incident on the face of it seems indefensible.