In the third major case of severe animal cruelty to be heard in court this week in the UK, a farmer from Perthshire has been accused of leaving the decomposing carcasses of over 350 animals lying around his estate over five months.

John Ferguson of Welton of Creuchies Farm, Alyth, Perthshire, who was not present in court today, faced three charges relating to animal welfare on his farm. Mr Ferguson, who manages a herd of 1,120 sheep and nearly 100 cows, has been accused of failing to provide a suitable environment, adequate nutrition or appropriate shelter for the animals. The incidents of which Mr Ferguson stands accused took place between 1st October 2011 and 23rd February 2012.

It is also alleged he failed to provide treatment for liver fluke, did not monitor the animals and failed to remove over 350 corpses of cows and sheep or store them away from birds and other animals. He is also charged with failing to provide adequate nutrition for 95 cows and stirks on his farm over the same period.

As he was absent from court, the farmer, who also runs a number of businesses in the area, did not enter a plea. The case will continue without plea next month.

On Friday (17th August), two farm workers caught on film abusing pigs in Norfolk earlier this year were sentenced, one receiving unpaid labour and a suspended prison sentence and the other 18 weeks in prison. A Lincolnshire farmer who left pig carcases rotting in fields and failed to provide adequate feed and water for animals on his farm was also sentenced to a year in prison on Monday (20^th August).

As is believed to be the case with Mr Ferguson, the Lincolnshire farmer, Andrew Wells, neglected animals over a period of several months. Lincolnshire Trading Standards visited Wells’ farm a number of times between November 2011 and June 2012. However, it was not until animals were discovered to be in a state of starvation, in June this year, that action was taken to remove any of them from the farm.  

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