Farmer jailed in animal cruelty case appeal

I found this distressing article on the stuff.co.nz website after it arrived in my Inbox (I subscribe to the RSS feed).

Farmer jailed in animal cruelty case appeal 

As a SAFE (Save Animals From Exploitation) supporter I am regularly frustrated at the judiciary’s poor sentencing record when it comes to animal abuse cases.  We have an abominable record, with almost all  offenders avoiding a custodial sentence.  These poor animals just don’t seem to count in the eyes of the sentencing Judge.  Obviously, it is not the Judge’s family pet that was stabbed/beaten/kicked/stomped to death.

Here’s how the article opened:

What's been described as the worst type of animal cruelty of its kind dealt with by New Zealand courts has seen a home detention sentence upped to imprisonment.In the High Court at Rotorua Justice John Priestley quashed the home detention imposed by Waikino farmer Lourens Barend Erasmus in the Waihi District Court last October, substituting it with a jail term of  two years and a month.

Finally a Judge has stepped up and sent the offender away.  Well done Justice John Priestly!

It’s not like this was rocket science though.  The offender Lourens Barend Erasmus admitted to three charges of wilfully ill treating more than 100 dairy cows.  The offences included “breaking the tails of 115 and the bones of others by hitting them with milking cups and steel pipes”.  Ouch.

How could the original Judge not sent this monster away?  Home detention?  Give me a break.

So to Waikino farmer Lourens Barend Erasmus, goodbye for the next few months, and good riddance.  We don’t need scum like you free in our society.  Unfortunately you’ll get out in 1/3 of the imposed 24 months (25 – 1 for time served).  Pity.  Eight months is nowhere long enough in my book for what you did.