Gloucestershire farmer receives 10 year ban on keeping livestock
Shaun Saunders from the Forest of Dean has received a 10 year ban on owning livestock after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a lamb, failing to dispose of two sheep carcasses and animal movement records offences.
Shaun Saunders, aged 61, of Broadmeads, Coleford Road, Bream, Lydney, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and on Monday appeared at Gloucester Crown Court for sentencing following a prosecution brought by Gloucestershire County Council’s trading standards service.
He had pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a lamb, failing to dispose of the carcasses of two sheep, failing to apply for a temporary land association and failing to notify the movements of sheep onto his holding in accordance with the legislation.
As a result, Mr Saunders has been banned from keeping farm livestock for 10 years, fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 costs.
This came following a complaint in October 2023 from a member of the public who was worried about the condition of a lamb and carcasses in a field at Stow field, Lower Lydbrook.
As a result, a trading standards officer from Gloucestershire County Council attended, along with a vet from the Animal Plant Health Agency (APHA), where their inspection found a lamb that was so badly that it died before the vet had time to intervene to prevent further suffering.
The vet discovered that the lamb had been affected by flystrike for several days without any treatment.
The officer also found two carcasses in the field and several thin lambs, which were later treated by the farmer’s own vet.
It was later discovered that that the farmer had gone away for several days and the livetsock had not been checked on during this time to ensure its welfare.
Saunders also failed to apply for a temporary land association and failed to notify livestock movements, after receiving previous advice on these requirements several times in the past.