The owner of a Te Anau restaurant told food inspectors that home-killed venison illegally stored in a freezer was for friends and family.
The Ministry for Primary Industries prosecuted Ming Gardens Enterprise Ltd after an operation in 2016 to clamp down on the sale of wild venison in the southern South Island.
The inspection of Ming Garden Restaurant on August 18 of that year found 92kg of the meat with an estimated commercial value of $3000.
The company’s director, Yue Hing Chan, told the inspectors the venison was to be made into jerky and given away as Chinese New Year gifts.
But the company admitted two charges of selling or attempting to sell home-killed venison in breach of the Animal Products Act.
Appearing in the Queenstown District Court this week, Mr Chan told Judge John Brandts-Giesen the deer had been shot by his son and put in the freezer because the family did not have enough storage space at home.
His lawyer, Michael Walker, said the restaurant was a small, family-owned business that did not deliberately set out to "flout the law".
"It was obtained recreationally and it was stored in the wrong place. It wasn’t going to be put on the menu."
Judge Brandts-Giesen said "sell" had a wide meaning in the Act that included sharing the meat with others.
Storing wild venison at the restaurant was "clearly illegal".
Furthermore, it had been stored beside other meat and fish that was to be used in the restaurant.
If it had been put in a separate freezer and clearly labelled, there might have been an excuse, he said.
Not doing so was "not just stupid, but dangerous".
He fined the company $3000, court costs $130.
