CARRIER'S CRUELTY

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20909, 14 September 1939, Page 9

CARRIER'S CRUELTY

OVERLOADING OF CALVES SOME DEAD ON FLOOR OF LORRY OTHERS UNABLE TO WALK The story of a cartage contractor’s cruelty to the calves which he carried to the Horotiu freezing works was related in the Magistrate's Court, Hamilton, to-day, beiore Mr S. L. Paterson, S.M., when the Government stock inspector for the Waikato, Mr E. A. McK’nlay, brought a charge of cruelty to young calves against Norman Alfred Hall, a carrier, of Matangi. Accused, who was represented by Mr F. D. Robertshaw, was fined £5 and costs. On July 27, said Mr McKinlay, Hall took a load of calves, numbering ill, to the Horotiu freezing works from Matangi. When the vehicle pulled up in the yard difficulty was experienced in unloading the calves, as the door on the body of the truck was blocked by a calf that had fallen down. Hall had been warned by the yard foreman about overloading. When the calves were taken out five were dead and about one-third of the remainder were in a distressed condition. The floor space in the back of the truck was 170 square feet, and with a recognised floor space of two square feet for each calf, Hall should have had no more than 84 calves on the truck. On the day there was about 30 per cent overloading. In a Bad State On July 31 Hall went to the freezing works in the same lorry with another 111 calves. When they were unloaded two were dead and a number of the others were in a bad state. On still another occasion most of the truck load of 115 calves were found lying two and three deep on the floor of the vehicle. When they were unloaded three were dead and from one-third to a-half of the remainder were so distressed that they could not stand. Two hours later they were unable to walk to the killing pens, chiefly because of the condition of their eyes, which had become full of dirt while they were lying on the floor of the lorry. Recent Improvement It was usual for drivers to bed the floor of their lorries with hay or bracken, but Hall used sand. At the beginning of the season the contractor undertook to refrain from putting we-ak or immature calves with the other animals, but to kill them before the trip started and carry them in a bag. During the past year or two, said Mr McKinlay, there had been a great improvement in the conditions of the carriage of calves, with the exception of a few cases such as that before the Court. Mr Robertshaw said that the time from when the last of the animals were picked up until they arrived at the freezing works was about half-an-hour. There was room for about 95 calves on the lorry. On the day when the calves were found lying on the floor of the lorry the gate between the upper and lower decks had fallen open unknown to Hall and the animals had dropped through. The dead calves had been killed before being put on the lorry and had not been trampled to death.