News Wednesday, October 30, 2013
www.guardianonline.co.nz
Ashburton Guardian
5
■ ASHBURTON DISTRICT COURT
Detention for animal ill-treatment A Mid Canterbury farmer has received a community detention sentence for a raft of charges laid under the Animal Welfare Act – but he has not been banned from working with animals. Geoffrey Edgar Walter Deal, 61, appeared in front of Judge Joanna Maze in the Ashburton District Court yesterday to face nine counts laid for failing to meet adequate standards of care and ill treatment of his dairy cattle, and refusing to comply with the instructions of animal welfare inspectors. Deal’s lawyer Paul Bradford said his client had been under “unimaginable stress” at the time the offences had been committed. Ministry of Primary Industries prosecutor Grant Fletcher said that in animal welfare cases there was almost always underlying causes, such as cashflow problems or bad weather, and this had proved true in this case. He also cited the practise of lobbyists taking to social media to malign those prosecuted on animal welfare charges as disturbing. “In this case it is not deserved,” he said. The ministry sought a six month term of community detention and to recover $16,500 in costs, but did not ask that Deal be banned from owning animals. Judge Maze found a four month community detention sentence to be sufficient, but said it would be impossible for Deal to make the requested repayment, instead she ordered
him to repay $8000 by instalments. She also made reference to the stress burden Deal was under at the time. Mr Fletcher said the ministry accepted that Deal was still operating the farm and there had been no further problems. At an earlier sitting the court was told a national dairy co-operative was notified of serious problems on Deal’s property in November 2010 and May 2011. A plan was put in place but Deal made little effort to remedy the situation. In June 2011 the matter was referred to the former Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. A veterinary inspection found 70 per cent of the cows had bodyweights well below minimum standards. MAF contracted a farm consultant to provide assistance. However Deal was unreceptive to the advice offered, and a mandatory directive stipulating feed requirements was issued. By mid-July two vets, Federated Farmers representatives and another vet called in by Deal decided that 92 animals should be culled – euthanised or sold to meatworks. Two were shot on the spot to end their suffering. The animals were to be transported to a processing plant within seven days; twice Deal prevented this. A court order was gained by MAF, forcing Deal to dispose of 122 of the remaining cattle, the majority being sold and put on new grazing.
Mohua bird of the year
The mohua, or yellowhead, has been crowned Bird of the Year in Forest & Bird’s ninth annual poll. The bush canary won with 2464 votes out of more than 12,000 cast, and facing strong competition from the ruru and the southern rockhopper penguin. Once common in the South Island and Stewart Island, the mohua is now an endangered species, Forest & Bird said. For several decades, the mohua has had to battle it out with rats and stoats and com-
pete with wasps for food, and they are now battling climate change. Warmer summers increase the likelihood that the beech trees that the mohua lives amongst will mast (drop seeds). This causes a spike in predator numbers. When the predators run out of food, they inevitably turn to eating native birds. Forest & Bird said the number of votes for the rarely seen, and little-known bird speaks volumes about our desire to see these birds spread their wings. - APNZ
Photo SuSan SandyS
Turning pink for special night Pretty in pink, and decorated hats, are (from left) Sally Hickey, Mandy Gordon, Colleen Stanley, Andrea Thompson and Jill Kerr. They are gearing up for the annual Foothills Ladies Pink Night to be held at Staveley’s Topp Lodge tonight. All are welcome to attend. It is just a gold coin donation at the door, and there will be stalls, a raffle and prizes for the best hats. Topp Lodge owner Lynda Topp will be judging. Money raised will go to the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation. Last year $1500 was raised, a figure this year’s organisers are hoping to beat.
■ MEDICAL MISADVENTURE
Ashburton woman suffers three injuries due to surgery By Lee ScanLon A patient suffered three injuries as a result of surgery at Grey Base Hospital, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) says. Jen Branje, 45, of Ashburton, was living in Westport when the alleged surgical botch-ups occurred. She had a hysterectomy and repairs to her bladder and vagina at Grey Hospital in June last year. Mrs Branje said she was never warned about possible complications from the tape the surgeon inserted to hold up her bladder. When she suffered post-operative complications, she discovered the tape was embedded in her tissue. She had corrective surgery at Grey Hospital last October to cut and resection the tape, but the second surgery was also botched, she said. An ACC specialist has now identified she suffered three surgical injuries: Nerve damage, which was causing thigh pain;
Urinary obstruction because the tape was inserted too tightly; Erosion and exposure of the ends of the tape through her tissue. The specialist said all three injuries were uncommon. ACC agreed to cover them but declined to cover Mrs Branje’s anterior/posterior prolapse because neither was a new injury resulting from surgery. Mrs Branje said her health was still poor. She still had no feeling in her thighs, she often suffered “freaky pain and twitching” in her legs and was unable to stand or sit for long periods. Driving to medical appointments in Christchurch was an effort, she said. She was using meditation to control her pain and was still awaiting remedial surgery. It had been delayed after she had a turn and had to be checked out by a cardiologist. Because ACC would not cover her prolapse, she might have to have the prolapse repaired in the public health system and have the other operation privately. She was disappointed ACC
would not compensate her for loss of earnings because she had been off work for two years - as a result of her medical conditions - before the Grey Hospital surgery. She would have been back at work long before now if her surgery had been successful, she said. “I shouldn’t be waiting another year to get better and go back to work.” She was now putting her case in the hands of a lawyer. When Mrs Branje requested her medical records from Grey Hospital earlier this year, the West Coast District Health Board (DHB) sent her an incomplete file and mistakenly included two pages of confidential medical files for a Westport woman. At the time, the DHB apologised for the mix-up, but declined to comment on Mrs Branje’s medical complaint. The Westport News sought comment from the DHB yesterday, following the ACC ruling. It said key staff were unavailable but it should be able to respond today. - APNZ