Two livestock keepers have been banned from owning most animals for five years after admitting 19 animal welfare and disease control offences.
William Dickinson, 27, of no fixed abode and his mother Tara Thorneycroft, 56, of Hilton Street, Over, keep livestock at Greengage Farm, Impington.
Inspections
Trading Standards officers had visited the holding on nine occasions since April 2024 and gave “extensive advice” to both on how to meet the basic welfare needs of the animals and poultry.
When the advice wasn’t followed, an Improvement Notice and subsequently a Warning Notice were issued – and yet serious welfare breaches continued.
On inspections carried out when temperatures were reaching 28 and 30 degrees, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry were found to have no water, and the horses, donkeys and sheep lacked grazing.
On other occasions horses and donkeys were found to be in a hazardous environment and a horse was lame. Pigs were found with no bedding or wallow.
A re-inspection days before the first hearing in court found horses, pigs, sheep and goats to be living in pens of thick mud, with no dry lying area and no water.
Court
Both Dickinson and Thorneycroft pleaded guilty to 19 offences contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Animal Health Act 1981.
On 6 May, Cambridge Magistrates Court imposed a 12-month community order requiring 150 hours of paid work, and the pair were disqualified from owning and keeping animals other than cats and dogs for five years. Each defendant was also ordered to pay £2,000 in costs.
‘Clear message’
The Head of Service at Cambridgeshire County Council’s Trading Standards says the case “sends a clear message” that his team “will not tolerate” breaches of basic animal welfare standards.
Peter Gell said: “Whilst it is accepted Mr Dickinson and Mrs Thorneycroft were new to livestock keeping, when bringing animals into their care they have a duty to research how to meet the basic needs of those animals and put all measures in place to ensure their welfare needs are met.
“Officers visited time and time again, providing them with extensive advice on what was required of them, and yet serious welfare breaches continued and animals in their care continued to suffer.”
He added: “Other enforcement sanctions did little to accelerate progress, so prosecution became the only remaining recourse to protect the animals on the small holding. The sentence today will ensure that no animals suffer in their care for the next five years.”
