A Moray farmer has been given a reprieve after admitting mistreatment of cattle two years ago.
Douglas Duncan, 62, pled guilty to four charges of animal neglect on his farm at Knockando, near Aberlour.
The charges relate to May and June 2022 and a further charge of threatening a vet and an SSPCA officer was also admitted by Duncan.
The charges state Duncan failed to provide adequate care and treatment for three Shorthorn heifers – who had been found with wounds, abrasions, alopecia, muscle atrophy, emaciation, and signs of prolonged recumbency – and all three are “now deceased”.
Living conditions on Moray farm
Three more cattle, including a bull and two heifers, were also said to have been badly treated and Duncan failed “to provide said animals with a comfortable and clean living environment, access to a dry resting area and natural light”.
Copies of an SSPCA report were handed to the court and Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood asked for another report to be completed in three months’ time.
Duncan’s defence agent Grant Dalglish said the report had shown a “turnaround” in his client’s farming and said no further allegations had been made since the 2022 findings.
‘There has been a turnaround on the farm’
“The SSPCA reports says they have concerns about the coming winter months and his ability to look after the livestock,” Mr Dalglish went on. “We can see how he gets on over the summer and autumn.
“A banning order would mean he would lose his livelihood.
“There has been a turnaround on the farm recently.”
Sheriff Fleetwood agreed and asked for another report in three months’ time from the SSPCA and deferred sentence on Duncan, of Nether Knockans, Knockando, until September 26.