A step in the right direction

From this morning's Herald

Farmer who starved cattle gets 10 months’ house arrest

Judge calls case one of the worst he’s ever seen

By GORDON DELANEY Valley BureauTue. Apr 7 - 6:14 AM

In this 2006 photo, Annapolis County farmer Alan Elliott points to the location behind his barn where he says a military helicopter hovered and contaminated his farm.(Gordon Delaney / Valley Bureau)

ANNAPOLIS ROYAL — Annapolis County cattle farmer Alan Elliott was sentenced Monday to 10 months’ house arrest in what the judge called one of the worst cases of animal cruelty he has ever seen.
Judge Jean-Louis Batiot also slapped a seven-year prohibition against owning animals on Mr. Elliott, 69, who was convicted of two counts of cruelty to animals after more than 130 cattle were seized from his farm near Middleton.
Mr. Elliott was given house arrest for five months on each count, plus a total of three years probation, and ordered to undergo a psychological assessment and counselling.
In his sentencing at Annapolis Royal provincial court, Judge Batiot took into account the fact that Mr. Elliott has no criminal record and had a good pre-sentence report.
But he said the report noted that Mr. Elliott still does not take responsibility for his actions and continues to blame others.
"It seems Mr. Elliott simply did not care for those animals," the judge said, describing his actions as "wilful mismanagement of his cattle."
Crown attorney Dave Acker requested jail time. "He doesn’t have any remorse, and he’s still pointing his fingers at others," he told the court.
He added that Mr. Elliott abused his position of trust, which in this case happened to be to his cattle.
Mr. Elliott defended himself during the nine-day trial last year.
At the trial, two witnesses — a veterinarian and a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty investigator — were brought to tears on the witness stand as they described the condition of the emaciated and dying cows found on his property.
About 130 cows were seized by the SPCA from the Spa Springs farm in March 2006 after reports that Mr. Elliott, a cattle farmer for most of his life, was not feeding the animals, with the exception of a small group of prized heifers that he was caring for.
It was the largest animal seizure in the SPCA’s history in Nova Scotia. It took days to round up the cattle and cost the organization $29,000 to ship and care for them until they could be sold.
Several dead cows were also found on the 240-hectare farm.
Mr. Elliott was charged for not providing adequate, food, water, shelter and care.
He claimed throughout the entire process that he could not sell the cattle because his organic farm had been contaminated by pollutants from a search and rescue helicopter from nearby 14 Wing Greenwood that landed on his property.
Mr. Elliott said he lost his certificate for organic farming and had no income for five years before the SPCA seized the cows, but staff at the base said they did a thorough investigation and determined that a helicopter was never near or on his property.
Mr. Elliott declined to comment when Judge Batiot asked him if he had anything to say before the sentencing.
An SCPA investigator, who was new to the case, also declined comment outside the court.
( gdelaney@herald.ca)
After seeing five dollar fines for killing kittens and animal abusers who were allowed to keep their personal pets, even a seven year ban on owning animals is a step in the right direction.