JSPCA PRESS RELEASE

June 2005  

JERSEY FARMER ABANDONS APPEAL AGAINST HIS CONVICTION ON 16 CHARGES OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

Mr Paul Le Miere, who farms at Les Pallieres, St Ouens, was convicted of 16 charges of cruelty to animals on 12th May 2005 and hence was fined £1600 and disqualified from keeping pigs and dogs for the next five years, although the disqualification order was suspended for two months. An appeal was lodged at the time of the conviction, but Mr Paul Le Miere has now abandoned the appeal against his conviction. 

Further to complaints made to the JSPCA Animals’ Shelter regarding the welfare of animals owned and kept by Mr Paul Le Miere on his farm at Les Pallieres, St Ouens, a cruelty investigation involving both the States Veterinary Surgeon and the JSPCA Animals’ Shelter was undertaken and Mr Paul Le Miere has been charged on 16 offences of cruelty to animals.  These charges include failing to supply his elderly farm dog with proper and sufficient shelter, failing to supply the pigs he kept in outside pens with proper and sufficient water and shelter, failing to provide proper and sufficient food, water and shelter to a group of weaners housed in appalling conditions in a dark barn and failing to supply proper and sufficient water and shelter to a boar also being kept in terrible conditions in the barn.

On the afternoon of 5^th November 2004, 14 weaner pigs, one boar and an elderly collie cross dog, all owned by Mr Paul Le Miere, were seized because of immediate concerns for their health and welfare.  The conditions in which they were being kept on the farm were absolutely appalling and completely unacceptable, with lack of access to fresh water or suitable shelter and in some cases, even food.  On the day that the animals were seized, there were even carcases of dead weaners found in one pen, with the surviving weaner pigs running all over them.

With the help and support from many different sectors and following an incredibly lengthy legal process, Mr Paul Le Miere was found guilty of failing to look after his animals and convicted of all 16 charges of causing unnecessary suffering to the animals in his care.  A fine of £1600 was levied against Mr Paul Le Miere and he has been banned from keeping pigs and dogs for 5 years.

This case also highlights the urgent need for the enacting of the ‘new’ Jersey Animal Welfare Law 2004, which has been lodged with the Judicial Greffe.  This new Law is much more comprehensive than the out dated 1980 Protection of Animals (Jersey) Law and should therefore, after it has been enacted, help to safeguard the health and welfare of the Island’s animals, which of course are a silent voice.  

= The elderly farm dog’s bed – it was full of dog faeces.

= Two dead young pigs were found in a pen of 14 other young pigs.

= This boar’s water bowl was full to the brim of mud and slurry.

= The appalling conditions which these growing pigs were kept in - knee deep in slurry and wet mud.

ENDS