Last updated 13:26, June 25 2018
PETER DRURY/STUFF NZ
Kenneth Julian McIntyre, 53, has had three charges relating to the mistreatment of pigs allegedly under his supervision dismissed by a district court judge. (File photo)
Kenneth Julian McIntyre, 53, has had three charges relating to the mistreatment of pigs allegedly under his supervision dismissed by a district court judge. (File photo)
A man allegedly in charge of an overcrowded Waikato piggery that was home to dozens of starving and injured pigs - three of whom who were in such a bad way they had to be euthanised - has had charges of animal cruelty dropped.
Kenneth Julian McIntyre, 53, had three charges dismissed by Judge Melanie Harland when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Friday.
They were the reckless ill treatment of the three killed pigs; failing to ensure 25 injured pigs received treatment for unnecessary pain or distress; and failing to ensure the physical health and behavioural needs of 800 pigs were met.
But while almost all elements of the charges against McIntyre were found to be proved beyond reasonable doubt at a court hearing on June 11 and 12, what could not be proved was whether he was "the person in charge" of the pigs.
The pigs lived on a farm in Hikutaia, near Paeroa. The 1200-pig farm was leased and the pigs were owned by Kaimai Pork Ltd - now in liquidation - with the overall operation allegedly overseen by McIntyre. All of the charges stemmed from a period stretching from August to December 2014.
The sorry state of the piggery was revealed when Ministry for Primary Industries inspectors visited the farm on December 10 that year, in response to complaints about noise.
What they found was a dark, poorly ventilated shed "chronically overcrowded to the point that pigs were lying on top of each other in all parts of the pens, and lying in feed troughs and the defecating area".
The floor of the shed was covered with faeces and had been worn away, with sharp stones on the ground. Many pigs had ulcers, abscesses and inflammations of their legs, hocks and hooves.
It would have been, observed Judge Harland, "very distressing to have attended this piggery to be confronted with what [the inspectors] saw."
One of the inspectors said McIntyre had told him he was in charge of the piggery - an allegation he denied.
Three emaciated pigs were removed, assessed by a vet, and then euthanised.
But whether McIntyre was the man in charge of the Hikutaia operation on the dates alleged in the charges could not be determined by the judge.
"Kaimai Pork had the overall control of matters relating to the pigs' welfare," she said in her judgement, issued earlier this week.
"I cannot be sure on the evidence I heard that Kaimai Pork ... delegated those responsibilities to the defendant."
Another man, Carl Baldonado, had been employed by Kaimai Pork as a day-to-day worker on the pig farm and he was responsible for feeding the pigs and cleaning the pens. However Baldonado had no authority to buy additional food, if it was needed; call a vet, if needed; decide to send animals to the meatworks; or change the layout of the piggery.
While Baldonado considered McIntyre to be his manager this was disputed by McIntyre, who said he was more of a consultant or project manager who also had responsibility for sourcing feed for the livestock.
McIntyre had been a director of Kaimai Pork from the company's incorporation in 2012 until April 2014, and he did not hold any shares in the company.
McIntyre was removed from his directorship after he became the subject of a complaint about a nearby pig farming operation near Te Aroha, also run by Kaimai Farms. In 2015 he was fined $65,000 in a prosecution brought by the Waikato Regional Council for illegally dumping pig effluent.
McIntyre claimed that Kaimai Pork agreed to pay the effluent fine, but the company went into liquidation in September 2016 with only $10,000 of that figure having been paid.
Kaimai Pork was a subsidiary of New Zealand Pork Ltd - a company which McIntyre retained an interest in, as the beneficiary of a shareholding trust. A second founding director of Kaimai Pork, managing director Mark Benjamin, stayed on after McIntyre's removal as a director.
Baldonado told the hearing that prior to the ministry inspection, he had become concerned about overcrowding and lack of feed for the pigs.
He said about two pigs were dying there every day.
He said he had contacted McIntyre about this and was told to put the sick animals in a pen or sick bay. As far as the feed situation was concerned, he said McIntyre "just told him to do his job".
After the inspection, McIntyre was served with a notice by the ministry, instructing him to prevent or mitigate suffering. The Hikutaia piggery was subsequently re-concreted and later inspections by animal welfare inspectors found no further problems.
Judge Harland said there was insufficient evidence to determine whether McIntyre had a management or supervisory role in relation to either Baldonado or the pigs.
"As the pigs were owned by Kaimai Pork ... the responsibility for providing food to the pigs was that of Kaimai Pork and not the defendant.
"Although the defendant was responsible overall for sourcing food for both Kaimai Pork's piggeries, in the absence of evidence to the contrary this does not mean he was responsible for ordering it or providing it to the Hikutaia property if there was a shortage."