An OAP farmer has been banned from keeping animals after a dead sheep was found unburied on his land alongside dozens of neglected animals.
Leslie Stewart, 74, was found guilty of animal cruelty charges after the “horrendous” conditions were exposed at his farm in Ireland.
The pensioner, of The Thorn, Letterkenny, shoved dogs in a van without providing any water and left his pigs and poultry in similar conditions.
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Shocking images showed animals walking around floored animals inside of a barn, reports Irish Mirror.
Three Collie-type dogs were removed from a locked van and had symptoms of heat stroke. The dogs remained in ISPCA care for rehabilitation and were subsequently rehomed.
Stewart had already served a two-year ban and received a suspended jail sentence in 2016 for starving animals on his property.
(Image: FREE REPRO PHOTO – please credit ISPCA)
On that occasion ISPCA officers and vets found several horses and donkeys starving on Stewart’s lands.
Several of the animals had to be put down.
Judge Paul Kelly said at the time: “I want to be sure that there are no animals on his property, I want to verify that. This man should not be near or in control of any living creature.”
He said the only reason he was not sending Stewart to jail was because of his age.
Animal welfare officers had been monitoring Stewart’s situation since and visited his farm on a number of occasions.
(Image: FREE REPRO PHOTO – please credit ISPCA)
And on a number of different dates they found animals in various states of distress as a result of Stewart’s cruelty.
The offences date between May 2019 and April 2021.
On one occasion the carcasses of dead sheep were found on his lands with dogs nearby.
He was also charged with keepings pigs in a trailer without enough water, keeping dogs in a van without water and keeping poultry in a small locked trailer without water.
Passing sentence on an earlier hearing two weeks ago, Judge Éiteáin Cunningham described the case as “disturbing”.
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She fined Stewart a total of €1,500 and also banned him from keeping animals for 10 years with Judge Cunningham noting the accused had clearly “not learned” from the experience of his previous two-year ban.
She also sentenced him to a total of four months in jail but suspended the sentence for 12 months.
The court was told Leslie was currently leasing 33 acres of land at The Thorn and Judge Cunningham stressed department of Agriculture officials were to be given copies of those leases.
She also gave an order that any animals on the land, understood to be two dogs and poultry, would be seized.
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