Keith Bruce Townshend, 69, and his son Joel Charles Townshend, 39, were sentenced on Monday in the Ashburton District Court after a successful prosecution by the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Under the National Animal Identification and Tracing scheme, cattle and deer must have NAIT tags and be registered in the NAIT system before they are 180 days old or moved off-farm.
Keith Townshend ran farms in Ashburton and on Banks Peninsula. He was fined $20,000 on two charges under the NAIT Act.
Joel Townshend - who operated farms at Wakanui in the Ashburton district - was fined $27,500 on three charges.
Said MPI regional manager animal welfare and NAIT compliance Murray Pridham: "MPI takes non-compliance with NAIT seriously.
"The scheme provides a critical tool in the fight against biosecurity incursions such as M.bovis or foot and mouth disease.
"Put simply, when people in charge of animals disregard their NAIT obligations, they put the whole agricultural sector at risk because it affects our ability to do our job – track and trace animals."
The investigation into Keith Townshend’s operation found between April and November, 2022, 798 cattle were moved from Akaroa to Forks without declaring it with NAIT.
Keith Townshend also failed to declare 1034 cattle moved from Forks to Akaroa between May and October 2022.
Joel Townshend, who took over the lease of a property at Wakanui in 2022, was found to have 1154 unregistered cattle.
