Farmer is fined £37,000 after leaving 64 pigs drowning in a mud pit so disgusting seven were put down after rescuers spent hours freeing them

UNITED KINGDOM -- A farmer who left dozens of pigs drowning in a mud pit that was so disgusting seven of the animals had to be put down has been fined more than £37,000.

Jonathan Forbes-Brown, 54, allowed the 64 animals to live in squalid conditions and failed to provide food and water at his farm in Braintree, Essex.

Seven of the animals had suffered so much that they had to be put down after getting stuck in mud to such an extent that slurry covered more than half of their body.

Another pig was found to be suffering from a bad leg injury after being hit by a car and never being taken to the vet.

Forbes-Brown denied seven animal cruelty charges for failing to provide a suitable environment, food, fresh water or appropriate veterinary care at Colchester Magistrates' Court.

However, he was found guilty by magistrates and fined more than £37,000.

 

  

Samantha Garvey, an RSPCA Inspector, said rescuers spent hours trying to free the pigs from the mud after receiving reports they were living in squalor.

She said: 'These were the worst conditions I have ever had to work in - the pigs had just been left to literally drown in the mud. The slurry was halfway up their bodies in some cases, and took several of us most of the day to try and heave them out to safety.

'I spent at least one hour holding one little piglet's head above the slurry as we desperately tried to get her out. It was so, so sad. I have seen some horrible things in my job, but I was close to tears. A lot of the pigs were in a very weak condition and they could not have escaped, or survived, had they been left.'

Ms Garvey said that heavy rain had turned the pigs' pen into a deep slurry pit that had sucked them into the mud, with Forbes-Brown not having the experience to resolve the issue.

 

She said: 'This was a case of someone keeping pigs as a hobby, without realising how hard pigs are to look after. He just did not have the experience or expertise to care for them. They did not have water or food, and no vet had ever attended to make sure they were cared for. This lack of knowledge, along with the bad weather, led to a near tragedy.'

The pigs which survived the ordeal have now been taken into care by another farmer in the area.

(Daily Mail - March 19, 2015)