Farmer fined for livestock neglect

A farmer has pleaded guilty to six charges of animal neglect. Robert John Winstone Hasell, 81, of Harm Farm, Hinton Blewitt was fined £10,000 and has been banned from keeping animals after officers found cattle living in muddy fields full of rubbish. 

Trading Standards officers discovered that a herd of 70 to 80 cattle were living in neglect, competing for hay and drinking water from dirty puddles full of mud, rubble and plastic waste. Three calves from the herd were found entangled in wire fencing and other livestock had been left without vet treatment for some time. 

Mr Hasell had previously been cautioned by Bath & North East Somerset Council animal health officers. They had advised him that he must provide his livestock with sufficient food and water. 

Bath magistrates accepted that Mr Hasell’s health had deteriorated throughout the year and that he had been unable to look after his cattle correctly, but stated that he should not have ignored the advice that had been provided from the council. 

One charge of allowing animal carcasses to be accessed by birds and animals was also admitted.

Mr Hasell has been sentenced to 16 weeks in custody, suspended for two years, along with a 12-week curfew. He has also been disqualified from keeping livestock for an indefinite period of time.