A vet has told the trial of an Aberdeenshire farmer that a calf, put down as it was so weak after weeks of neglect, might have been much younger than first believed.
At Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday, Hannah Orr, a vet investigations officer with the Scottish Agricultural College, suggested the calf found at Mill of Kinmuck farm could have been only days old.
William Cassie denies 12 charges relating to the care of cattle at the farm, near The Toll Of Birness north of Ellon, and at his home address of Portsdown Farm near Inverurie.
Under cross-examination from the 63-year-old’s solicitor David Moggach QC, Mrs Orr admitted the animal was of a weight a newborn calf could be.
Her opinion is at odds with evidence previously heard from the vet who put the animal down, having concluded it was too weak after weeks of undernourishment.
A two-and-a-half-year-old cow, found in the same shed on the farm, was also put down with Mrs Orr saying the autopsy had revealed it had calved only days before it was found in a dark corner.
The trial, in front of Sheriff Margaret Hodge, continues.
Vet says calf at centre of Aberdeenshire animal welfare trial could have been only ‘days old’
