Rules are strict for all whether they are for a human being or an animal. This is what has been proved recently in the region, when upon noticing failure of a Northland dairy farmer to seek treatment to his ill pet cow; a district court fined him $1000.

Fraser McBeth has not only been ordered to pay a fine of $1000 but also he has been fined to pay a compensation court cost of $132 to the court for failing to seek treatment to his pet cow, which a vet at a local processing plant fortunately noticed and informed the authorities that the cow is suffering with cancer of the eye.

Above sentence has been given to the farmer by the Whangarei District Court. The vet involved with the case informed the authorities about the painful and distressing condition that the cow would have been suffering from, soon after which the above proceedings went on and the farmer was sentenced.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Compliance and the Enforcement Director, Mr. Geoff Allen, showed a big concern in the case and said that the Ministry is pleased with the above sentencing of the guilty farmer.

"When you are responsible for an animal or animals, it is your ethical and legal obligation to keep them fit and healthy", he said. He further highlighted the responsibility and the duty of the hirer to efficiently take care of the pets and make sure that they do not suffer any pain or a distressed condition.

The cases where the problem could be solved at the very initial stage upon noticing such symptoms but did not get such attention to cure from the concerned person usually triggers badly and can even harm the lives of the patient, no matter we talk about a human or an animal life, he added.