A Nottinghamshire smallholder has been issued a ten-year ban from keeping livestock after trading standards officers found rotting carcasses on her land.
Nottinghamshire County Council has prosecuted Gemma Slinger, from Torworth near Retford, after finding carcasses of a goat and pig on her land.
The carcasses had been left rotting and decomposed to skin and bone, the council said.
The law states that carcasses must be collected without undue delay to prevent risks to public and animal health.
Council officers, accompanied by Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) vets, also found malnourished pigs rooting for food as there was no feed or water available.
In addition, they found chickens roaming around the land, exposed to the risk of catching avian influenza despite national measures requiring poultry to be housed.
These conditions were found despite advice provided to help the smallholder comply with her legal obligations, protect her animals and prevent the spread of disease.
At Mansfield Magistrates Court on the 16 June 2022, Ms Slinger was sentenced after pleading guilty to a number of welfare and animal by-product offences.
She was issued with a ten-year ban from keeping farmed livestock and fined £350.
Councillor John Cottee said: “Our Trading Standards Officers work to assist farmers, smallholders and businesses across Nottinghamshire to comply with legal requirements which are in place to protect animal and public health.
"Where we find a disregard for these requirements, we take formal action. Failing to house chickens and remove animal carcasses as found in this case risks spreading disease and as a result poses a risk to animal and human health."
