Farmer fined over badly injured cow

A farmer has pleaded guilty to ill-treating one of his cows left in such a poor state one of its eyes was infected with maggots and it had to be put down.

The SPCA said the cow was beyond treatment.

Anthony Joseph Schluter was fined $3000 and ordered to pay reparations of $380 at the Kaitaia District Court.

An SPCA inspector and a vet visited 75-year-old Schluter’s farm near Kaitaia in February last year to inspect the cow’s eye.

They found it was a mass of swollen tissue, infested with flies and maggots, and the animal was struggling to walk.

The SPCA say the cow was in extreme pain and beyond treatment.