Warning: distressing content A Waitaki farmer whose “emaciated” horse was left to suffer for a year before being put out of its misery has been fined in the Oamaru District Court. Michael Sandham Gillingham, 73, was ordered to pay a fine of $1000 as well as costs of $2416 incurred by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) after admitting on Wednesday the charge of the ill-treatment of an animal. An MPI summary states that on October 31 last year, animal welfare officers conducted an inspection on the defendant’s 45ha farm after a call to the MPI hotline about a sick cow. When they arrived, they could not locate the cow however a roan horse was found in “very emaciated condition with weeping masses under its caudal belly” the summary states. A vet engaged by the inspectors scored the horse a 0/5 for its body condition. The horse appeared to be suffering from a chronic degenerative disease and had growths on its body, the court heard. The vet recommended the horse was immediately euthanised. Once it was, a postmortem inspection was conducted. The vet who conducted the inspection said the horse was clinically unwell with severe pyelonephritis, a bacterial disease of the kidneys, and kidney failure as well as untreated equine sarcoids, a common skin tumour in horses, on the scrotal area. Based on the new information, the vet reported the horse likely experienced pain, discomfort and suffering from the sarcoids for at least 12 months. The defendant had not viewed underneath the horse for a long time as he was unable to catch it and the horse was considered turned out, he told MPI. There was no regular health management programme for checking feet teething or worming. The defendant was looked at favourably by Judge Tony Zohrab due to his age, the fact he had never been before the court and his early guilty plea.
