Luke Coleman, hospital a keeper of sheep, was found guilty at Cheltenham Magistrates Court on the 5th October 2015 for failing to register and record movements of sheep correctly, in breach of animal health legislation.
Mr Coleman of Andoversford had rented grazing for his sheep since 2012 over a wide area, both in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire.
Enquiries made by Gloucestershire County Council’s Trading Standards Service showed that he had failed to correctly register the premises where he kept sheep, failed to identify sheep and failed to report movements onto and off holdings, despite being advised on numerous occasions to do so.
These failures meant that the sheep posed a disease risk, if a disease control situation had arisen.
Advice and assistance on the requirements of the legislation were provided to Mr Coleman by an animal health officer of the Trading Standards Service between November 2013 and March 2015, and he was helped to apply for and complete the necessary forms for registration of holding premises with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA).
However, Mr Coleman failed to provide additional information required by this agency and it was established that he had moved another batch of lambs in April 2015 which did not have any ear tags contrary to the advice he had been given.
After being advised of possible legal action for failing to comply with the advice given, Mr Coleman also failed to attend a formal interview when requested by the Trading Standards Service to discuss the infringements.
Mr Coleman pleaded guilty to six charges relating to failure to keep an up to date holding register, failing to tag sheep, failing to disclose documents to an animal health officer when requested and failing to put the correct information on a movement document.
He was fined £150 on each of two charges with the other charges being taken into consideration, together with a £20 victim surcharge and £150 court charges. He was also told to pay £600 towards costs. This gave a total of £1,070 to be paid in 14 days.
Cllr Will Windsor-Clive, cabinet member for fire, planning and infrastructure, said: “It’s really important that livestock can be identified and the law is very clear. Having information on their movements helps to prevent the spread of disease and it provides essential information in the unfortunate event of an outbreak. “
“Our animal health officers do a great job giving advice and assistance to farmers to help them comply with this legislation. Unfortunately in this instance that advice was ignored which left the Trading Standards Service no option but to pursue legal action.”