A farmer who kicked, pushed and pulled the tail of a cow after it collapsed, before abandoning it at a Bridport slaughterhouse, has been slapped with a fine of hundreds of pounds.

Graham Lee John Charles Anstey pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a cow, in breach of the Animal Welfare Act 2006; he also pleaded guilty to further offences under disease control and cattle identification regulations.

Poole Magistrates' Court heard on Friday, April 27, that in April 2016 Anstey, who farms land at Sparkford in Somerset, had transported a group of 17 cattle to SJ Normans slaughterhouse outside Bridport, arriving at 4 am when the abattoir was closed.

As he offloaded his livestock into a pen, one cow collapsed; CCTV footage showed Anstey 'kicking, vigorously pushing and violently pulling the tail of' the cow in an attempt to force it to move. This went on for half an hour; the cow did manage to get up, but was able to walk only as far as a delivery ramp before it collapsed again.

Anstey then drove off, leaving the collapsed animal to be discovered by slaughterhouse staff when they arrived at 6 am.

The beast was euthanised after inspection by a vet, and the incident was subsequently investigated by Dorset County Council's Trading Standards service, which prosecuted Anstey.

Enquiries revealed that the farmer had a few days earlier purchased the cattle from a Shropshire market that was permitted to sell cattle without having to test them for tuberculosis first, because all the livestock were intended to go straight to slaughter. Instead, Anstey arranged for the cattle to be transported from the market to his farm in Somerset, only some days later taking them for slaughter.

In mitigation, the court was told that Anstey had not behaved with ill-intent or recklessness. He said he accepted what he did was wrong and that he was ashamed about the situation and the effect it was having on him and his family, and that the incident was 'limited and isolated'.

He was fined a total of £850 and ordered to pay £2000 towards prosecution costs.

DCC principal trading standards officer Neil Martin said causing unnecessary suffering to livestock was 'unacceptable'.

"Officers work with farmers to ensure compliance with the controls that are in place to minimise the devastating effects of livestock diseases," Mr Martin said. "Our experience is that Dorset farmers take their responsibilities seriously and compliance levels are good, so this sort of behaviour undermines that and places other farms at unnecessary risk.”

The trading standards service animal health line number, for farmers requiring advice or for anyone to report a welfare concern with livestock, is 01305 224475.