Ford and Austin failed to provide pigs with clean, fresh water
A pair of smallholders have been banned from keeping farm animals for five years and ordered to pay a total of £11,855 in fines and court costs.
On Thursday, May 8, 2025, Paul Ford and Rebecca Austin, of Little Chacewood Farm and Farm Shop, Truro, pleaded guilty to five charges of animal cruelty.
Plymouth Magistrates’ Court heard that during the winter of 2023 Ford and Austin neglected their animals.
They failed to provide bedding and fresh water and kept the animals in hazardous conditions where they had access to scrap metal, old machinery, live electrical wires and sharp rusty broken corrugated iron sheets.
Ford and Austin failed to correctly store and dispose of the waste of poultry slaughter, namely bird feathers and blood. They also failed to control a rat infestation.
Officers from Cornwall Council’s Animal Health and Environmental Health teams had previously visited the smallholding and provided advice and guidance, which was ignored.
In mitigation, the magistrates were told that the case revolved around “well-intentioned but incompetent care, caused by the defendants struggling to provide care whilst working elsewhere”.
Ford was ordered to pay a fine of £778 and surcharge of £311, and to contribute £8,000 towards the Council’s costs.
Austin was ordered to pay a fine of £162 and surcharge of £65. She was also ordered to contribute £2,539 towards the costs.
The magistrates also banned Ford and Austin from keeping farmed animals for five years. Cornwall Council will monitor the smallholding to ensure Ford and Austin comply with the court order.
Stephanie Martin, Senior Trading Standards Officer at Cornwall Council, said: “Mr Ford and Miss Austin had been offered considerable advice over a number of years. They completely ignored this advice and failed to provide the most basic care to their animals.”
Kevin Brader, Head of Public Protection at Cornwall Council, said: “This case is a distressing example of smallholders attempting to farm without the appropriate knowledge. Where individuals do not provide adequate care for their animals, we will take enforcement action to safeguard industry standards.”
Press release issued on May 12, 2025