A COURT has heard further details of the injuries and ailments suffered by sheep cared for by a Tockwith woman.

RSPCA Chief Inspector Karen Colman told York Magistrates she inspected the animals after being called by police to the field in Skipbridge, between York and Harrogate, in January 2015.

The court heard police were concerned about whether the transport of the sheep had been inappropriate, but once then-Inspector Colman arrived, concerns were raised about the animals’ wellbeing.

The following day, she and a vet examined the flock and found several sheep were so thin she could feel their backbones. 

Chief Insp Colman said the vet commented on the flock's unusual make up, with a mixture of ages, sexes, castrated and uncastrated males, and some with and without tags.

Chief Insp Colman said “as a result of feeding alone, we saw improvement in the body condition in the sheep”, within days, but some animals suffered from eye problems and foot rot which had been a problem for some time, and would not have become worse between the initial police attendance and the vet’s examination 24 hours later.

The court heard Gemma Furness, 31, told police at the scene she owned the sheep, and Chief Insp Colman said Furness was happy to be interviewed a week later, but she refused to sign the interview transcript as she wanted to speak to a solicitor.

The court heard Furness had initially told police she owned the sheep, but later said she only owned three of the 65 animals. 

Phil Brown, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said a post mortem was carried out on one sheep. He said: “The vet did not like to use the word ‘emaciated’, because he felt it was an emotive term, but set a ‘very poor’ body condition of zero and a ‘poor’ body condition of one out of five.

Furness, of Ralph Garth, denies two counts of animal neglect. The trial will resume in September.

DAY 1 REPORT:

A WOMAN neglected a flock of sheep so badly that many of them were half-starved or suffering from injuries or both, York magistrates heard.

Gemma Furness claimed to the RSPCA that only three of the 65 sheep from a field off the A59 at Skipbridge, near York, were hers and the rest had joined them one day without her knowledge, said Phil Brown, prosecuting for the animal charity.

PC Michael Lynch gave evidence that she told him the flock was hers when he saw them loaded into a trailer at the field. Vet Thomas Downes, then working for an Easingwold vets practice, gave evidence that 36 of the sheep were in poor body condition, mostly likely caused by inadequate feeding.

Twenty-five of the sheep had foot lesions, eye discharges, respiratory infections or suffered from a contagious skin condition that gave them scabby lesions around their muzzles. Some of the animals were both underweight and suffering from injuries or medical conditions.

Giving evidence through Skype from New Zealand, where he is now working, Mr Downes alleged it was an unusual flock in terms of the breeds and ages of the animals.

Furness, 31, of Ralph Garth, Tockwith, denies two charges of animal neglect.

Farmer Michael Wellings, who owns the fields where the animals were kept, told the court they were “one million per cent not mine”.

The previous autumn, he had allowed the sheep to use the field so that they could keep the weeds down and he had a phone number with the name “Gemma” to contact if there were any problems.

He alleged in January he had wanted them off the land so it could be ploughed.

PC Lynch alleged he went to the field on January 21, 2015, because he had received a call that Furness’s partner, Michael Hawkswell, who is banned from handling animals, was involved with the sheep.

He found a pick-up insured for both Furness and Mr Hawkswell to use with seven sheep in it and a tractor with a trailer incorrectly attached with the other sheep in it. Mr Hawkswell was not present.

Mr Brown said police were concerned for the animals’ welfare.

They seized the sheep as evidence against Mr Hawkswell and contacted the RSPCA who started their own investigation. Mr Downes examined the sheep the next day and a week later. The defence disputes his evidence.