[edandfred]

Just read on the BBC website that a farmer has been found guilty of allowing a bull and calf to starve to death and has been found only 250 pounds!   Hardly a punishment.

[ZaktheLad]

A disgrace.

[plumseverywhere]

He's also received a lifelong ban from keeping animals which in effect is the end of his livelihood I guess.

http://news.stv.tv/west-central/234011-glenboig-farmer-allan-green-let-highland-cattle-to-starve-to-death/

I often read these stories and while the suffering of the animals concerned is beyond all comprehension, I do wonder what must have been happening for the human in charge of their care. I wonder if he was suffering with some awful mental health issues and had no back up to help care for the beasts. 9 other carcusses rotting on his land too.

[Roxy]

There is no excuse for what this man, and other do,to animals.  But sometimes, and maybe you do not get to hear of this, there are reasons behind it, other than being a lazy good for nothing.  It can be illness, severe stress, depression - all sorts of things.  As I said, nothing excuses people for starving animals (and it happens to children too!) but there could be something in their lives that causes them to do such an awful thing.

[john and helen]

I think there is more to it than just neglect...they would be worth to much , just to let die

i think this man may need some medical help.... don't judge to harshly, its easy to get carried away with newspaper reports.. some people who have early alzheimers forget what they did 10 minutes  ago....

it doesn't say if he was married or had any other back up..... it just don't make sense

very sad for the animals...starvation must be a long painful death... but this just don't add up

[Fleecewife]

Sure he may be mentally ill, and it's well known that OP poisoning is the cause of many cases of severe depression and even suicide amongst farmers.
 
However, lets wait for the evidence.  A person not too far from here wasn't quite as bad as that, but his animals were in a very poor state, and he tended to leave any corpses of sheep which had died of flystrike lying around so they became too badly decomposed for the knackers to uplift, so he wouldn't have to pay.
As far as he was concerned, nothing was his fault and if people hadn't reported him then there wouldn't be a problem     Any mental health issues he has are limited to supreme arrogance and being a lazy sod  (Oops - fleecewife doesn't usually get so het up  ).
 
We, being various people farming in the vicinity, tried to see where we could help, but he flatly refused to admit there was a problem and would become aggressive and a bit scary (especially as he has a long range rifle)
 
Now he has had all his animals taken away and is no longer allowed to keep livestock - although he has several dogs - but instead of his income suffering, he rents out the land and sits back enjoying the proceeds without lifting a finger.  He even pretends that the stock now on his land is his - he even once claimed that our Hebs were his 
 
So while it is probable that this man deserves our sympathy rather than being publicly harangued by the press, we can't know until he's been to Court.
 
Ah no - on rereading I see he has already been to Court.  I wonder then if the tiny fine is because there are extenuating circumstances

[Lesley Silvester]

I can't understand why anyone wants to be a farmer if they don't intend looking after their animals. After all, they lose money if the animals die, whereas if they decided they didn't like farming, they could sell up. I'm thinking of the one near FW.

BTW, what is OP poisoning?

[plumseverywhere]

I had to ask OH, he thinks its organophosphate which was in a controversial sheep dip and caused all sorts of health problems for farmers and many used it to commit suicide, not least as it lead to brain damage. Its been withdrawn now but was used for the basis of chemical warfare agents too.

[Fleecewife]

I can't understand why anyone wants to be a farmer if they don't intend looking after their animals. After all, they lose money if the animals die, whereas if they decided they didn't like farming, they could sell up. I'm thinking of the one near FW.

BTW, what is OP poisoning?

Yep - plums is correct, organosphosphates.
 
The chap near me inherited his farm.  Maybe there is something different about simply slotting straight into a ready-made set-up, compared with having to work and save every penny, with the goal in mind of farming - ie a positive choice?

[Penninehillbilly]

I 'googled' allan green, glenboig, it also came up with another story where his pet donkey foal had been shot by others last year, as the cattle case probably took some time to go to court, I wonder if the 2 incidents were connected, if he was 'devastated' (quote) could that and the other vandalism have affected him for a while?

[plumseverywhere]

Just read that too, Pedwardine     Looks like he had a bit of a campaign of vandalism against him with fences being wrecked etc and then the pet donkey being shot.
Must have been really awful what he experienced, who knows what effect that can have on the mind.
We had a local weirdo threaten (on his FB page because he was 'brave' like that) to come and kill my goats, this was 2 years ago - the result was I ended up on antidepressants and diazepam due to the stress and subsequent sleepless nights it caused. So yes, there is a lot more to this than it seems

[Still playing with tractors]

in glenboig this comes as no surprise i pity anyone with animals in that area.....

[BlackBoab]

Why single Glenboig out for the rough edge of your finger. Other areas are worse for keeping livestock.These cases only highlight the present problems of the individual that is being put on public display.I know of 4 people that have ended up as this farmer has, and before depression, family loss or income tax demanding money ,were perfect examples of how farmers should be ,just like the posters that have added their opinion.
regards bb