Two men have been fined for causing “pain and suffering” to a sheep after leaving it for six hours with a broken leg.

Andrew Brock, 55, and 67-year-old William Cleave, both from Beaworthy in Devon, were slapped with fines after pleading guilty to animal welfare offences at Salisbury Magistrates Court on Tuesday, September 19.

The incident occurred in November 2022 when Mr Brock arrived at F Drury & Sons Abattoir in Tockenham, between Lyneham and Royal Wootton Bassett.

He unloaded a large number of sheep on behalf of Mr Cleave before moving a ewe that was unable to stand or walk.

CCTV footage showed the 55-year-old acting aggressively towards the animal, which could be seen crawling on the ramp and was later found to have suffered a broken leg which would have caused “considerable pain and suffering”.

This included lifting it by the ears and fleece, dragging her, and shouting, before finally moving her by holding her injured rear leg.

The sheep was then left for six hours overnight, until the abattoir's vet opened the facility, and was filmed trying and failing to stand, resulting in her leg sticking out from her body.

She then received veterinary treatment before being euthanised.

Veterinary expert Sophia Hepple said: “Mr Brock had the chance to take action at the point of unloading to alleviate her suffering by killing her humanely or liaising with (abattoir) staff to ensure her humane euthanasia.

“This did not happen, so Mr Brock was responsible for that sheep’s unnecessary suffering for more than six hours.”

As a result, he was charged with causing unnecessary suffering contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and fined £1,600, plus costs of £580 and a victim surcharge of £640.

Mr. Cleave, who arranged the transport using his brother’s vehicle without his knowledge, pleaded guilty to acting as a transporter without authorisation issued by a competent authority.

He received a £660 fine on top of £580 costs and a £226 victim surcharge.

Cllr Nick Holder, cabinet member for public protection, said: “We work with the farming community to ensure high standards of animal health and welfare are maintained.

“When this isn’t the case, our officers take potential breaches of animal welfare legislation very seriously and won’t hesitate to investigate when called upon.

“I would like to thank the officers involved for their work in this distressing case. We’re pleased with the decision and hope it will act as a deterrent to others that causing unnecessary suffering to animals will not be tolerated in Wiltshire.”