A RETIRED farmer has been fined £1,000 for illegally transporting a sick animal from Doncaster to Ilkley.

The sick young cow was discovered lying in a trailer in the dark without food and water at Upper Austby Farm, Langbar, during a raid, a court was told.

Prosecutor Andy Robson told Harrogate magistrates that the animal was found during the raid, which included police, trading standards officers, officials from DEFRA and Bradford environmental health officers, at the farm of Harold Gray last July.

Mr Robson said: "The officer was accompanied by a DEFRA vet and during the inspection of the farm, officers found a collapsed animal inside a trailer."

From its ear tag the cow was identified as belonging to Jill Karen Ball, of Manor Farm, Ripon, but was being looked after by her husband, Tom Fieldhouse Ball, 77, of Clough House Farm, Doncaster. He had since moved to East Biggin, County Durham.

"The animal was severely dehydrated, thin and its eyes were in the back of its head. The animal was suffering and needed to be destroyed immediately. It was despatched by lethal injection," said Mr Robson.

He added: "The vet carried out an examination and he was concerned for the condition of the animal. He was making attempts to get the animal to stand up, but after several attempts it was obvious it was not going to get up. The defendant had transported it the day before - it could have been there 24 hours."

Mr Robson showed the court a video of the animal lying in the trailer and the vet's examination.

The video also showed the animal lying dead after the vet's injection. Mr Robson said: "All its rib cage can be seen and part of its stomach had sunk down and it was just in a very sorry state. The pelvis was really prominent and had hardly any flesh cover on it at all."

A post mortem examination later found that the animal had been suffering from chronic pneumonia and pericarditis, an inflammation of the membranes of the heart.

Mr Robson said: "From the poor condition of the animal it had been in this condition for at least five days or more and should have been treated or humanely slaughtered before the condition deteriorated into the state in which it was found."

When Tom Fieldhouse Ball was later approached by trading standards officers he said he had nothing to say to them.

Mr Ball did not appear in court but pleaded guilty by letter to transporting an animal which was too sick to travel. He was fined £1,000 with £150 costs.

A further charge of cruelty to an animal was withdrawn. A charge of transporting a sick animal and another of cruelty to an animal were also withdrawn against Mr Ball's wife, Jill, of Manor Farm, Ripon and his 49-year-old son, Stephen Tom Ball, of Manor Farm, Ripon.

The clerk read out a statement from Mr Ball senior. In it he said: "I have been farming all my working life and was in the process of handing the Doncaster farm over to my son upon my retiring from farming.

"I was looking at the herd and I saw the animal was weaker than the others. Its condition continued to deteriorate and I thought it was suffering from a complaint I had known as John's disease.

"I decided to have it destroyed immediately. In order to have it humanely destroyed I drove it to Upper Austby Farm - a drive of 50 miles.

"I arrived at the farm and spoke to Harold Gray who told me they had stopped slaughtering."

He said he was then told that his trailer had a flat tyre so he decided to leave it where it was and go back to Doncaster, having received reassurances that the cow would receive food and water.

But Mr Robson disputed the claim that the trailer had a flat tyre and he told magistrates that the video showed that this was not the case.

Mr Robson said: "He says the trailer had a puncture but in the video there is clearly no puncture. It should not have been transported at all and Mr Ball, a farmer of considerable experience, knew it should not have been transported."

Ball's statement continued: "When I had taken the animal from my field it had been lively and could stand up when I last saw it, it was still lively and upright.

"I always believed that it was a reputable slaughterhouse and that was why I left the animal with them.

"When I decided to transport the animal, I realise that it must have been worse than I thought. This is the only time in a lifetime of keeping stock that I have been prosecuted for any offence."

Chairman of the Bench John Metcalfe said: "We have heard from the experts' report that the beast had been suffering for at least five days which should not have come as a surprise to Mr Ball. We have heard that the beast should not have been transported but should have been despatched at Clough House Farm."