The trial of a north-east man has heard how he allegedly left emaciated cow “to die in the corner” – and another “screaming” in hunger.
William Cassie, 63, denies 12 charges relating to the care of his cattle at his home at Portstown Farm near Inverurie and another premises at Mill Of Kinmuck, north of Ellon.
Yesterday the trial, in front of Sheriff Margaret Hodge, heard from former government employee Luca Quercia.
Mr Quercia worked for the Animal And Plant Health Agency when concerns were raised for the welfare of Mr Cassie’s cattle in December 2018.
Describing the “terrible” conditions animals were kept in at Mill Of Kinmuck, he said: “The shed they were kept in was completely dark. It was impossible to see.
“A calf was screaming because it was hungry.”
Mr Quercia told the court he had found a second calf confined to a small trailer attached to a quad bike.
It eventually had to be euthanised as it was so weak it could not stand. Mr Quercia speculated that the two-week-old animal had never been allowed out of the trailer.
He said: “It did not move at all. I did not know if it was dead in the darkness.”
Cassie’s solicitor, David Moggach QC, put it to the witness that the calf was much younger, accounting for its less developed state.
He also argued that another farmer had purchased the cattle only days before the inspection.
Mr Quercia said it was some time later before a cow – in such a poor condition it weighed around half of its expected 700kg – was found banded up in a dark corner of the shed. It too had to be put down.
Visibly distressed by the memory, the animal health worker claimed the animal must have been malnourished for months before reaching that state.
The court was shown images of the cow lying on the ground, still restricted in synthetic strapping more often used “to move carcasses”, Mr Quercia said.
“It was just left in the corner to die.”
The trail continues.
