A man who "brought farming in to disrepute'' with his ill-treatment of 300 sheep at a farm near Balclutha has been fined $18,200.
Sheep lay dead or were propped up against a fence while others fed on substandard hay bales in an enclosed yard of the farm, run by Angus Maclean Penrice (63).
"For some reason, you just shut your eyes to the obvious because you didn't take steps that were available to you,'' Judge Kevin Phillips said at the Dunedin District Court this afternoon.
Penrice moved the 300 sheep to a yard closer to the farm's homestead after noticing their poor condition, but failed to take adequate steps to address the problem, the court heard.
The offending happened between June 1 and August 31 last year.
