CONVICTED (2023) | John Edward Pritchard, born c. 1975, of Enham Green, Shaftesbury – caused unnecessary suffering to a group of young calves on their way to a slaughterhouse. Livestock haulier Pritchard was in charge of transporting 35 calves on a two-hour journey from a farm in Sherborne, Dorset, to an abattoir in Wiltshire. However, his double-decked livestock trailer was only designed to carry sheep when both decks were in use, because there was insufficient headroom on the lower deck for calves to stand. When he arrived, the calves were unloaded by a member of staff who immediately noticed that the animals on the lower deck had injuries to their backs where they had bumped against the roof supports of the upper deck during the journey. Many of the calves suffered injuries when they stumbled and fell down the trailer ramp which was twice as steep as it should be Some of these injuries were up to 10cm long and an examination of the carcasses after slaughter revealed deep bruising. The official vet at the slaughterhouse examined the calves and concluded that they had been caused unnecessary suffering. CCTV footage of the calves being unloaded was shown to the court and this also revealed that the ramp angle for the upper deck was far too steep for calves to safely walk down. The maximum permitted angle for such a ramp is 20 degrees but Pritchard’s was more than 40 degrees, with the CCTV showing the calves stumbling and falling down the ramp. The court heard that to transport the calves safely and legally, Pritchard should have only used the lower deck on the trailer with the upper deck folded away. This would have meant doing two journeys to the slaughterhouse but instead it was deemed he decided to put profit before animal welfare. The prosecution was brought by Dorset Council following an investigation by its Trading Standards team. Sentencing | 18-month conditional discharge; prosecution costs of £6,495 plus a £22 court surcharge. Daily Echo ITV News