Farmer fined for animal welfare offences after concerns raised over calves in field in Deepcar, Sheffield

He also pleaded guilty to fitting some of the calves with castration rings at five months old, despite official guidance stating the rings should only be fitted within seven days of birth.

Simon Crosby, of Stone Moor Road, Sheffield, was fined £1,038 and ordered to pay £400 in costs plus a victim surcharge of £104 when he appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on December 1 and admitted nine offences in total, five of which related to animal welfare.

A council inspector visited the field off Manchester Road, Deepcar, in September 2020, along with a vet from the Animal and Plant Health Agency, following a complaint.

Sheffield Council said the cattle were removed to a farm for their wellbeing and that an investigation found half of the 16 calves brought to the field had died.

The charges Crosby was convicted of included three counts of carrying out a prohibited procedure on a protected animal by applying a castration ring to the testicles of a calf which was aged more than seven days, and two counts of failing to take such steps as were reasonable in all the circumstances to ensure that the needs of a calf were met to the extent required by good practice.

The other four charges related to failing to produce veterinary medical records when required, failing to notify the death of an animal by completing the death details in the passport and sending it to the Secretary of State within seven days, and failing to notify the Secretary of State as required of the movement of cattle.

This article originally stated that Crosby had admitted nine animal welfare offences. It has been amended to clarify that only five of the nine offences were related to animal welfare.