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Justice for animals in Tasmania
Late last year, charges against former TFGA Chairman Lister Downbiggin (Ferdie) Foster were dismissed in the Launceston Magistrates' Court. In the wake of the Mitchell hearing we re-visit that case...
Animal welfare charges dropped
"Ferdie" Foster
Animal cruelty charges against a former chairman of the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association have been dismissed.
Lyster Dowbiggin Foster, known as Ferdie Foster, had been charged with two counts of doing an act which resulted in the death of an animal.
He was also facing one count of managing an animal in a way reasonably likely to result in pain or suffering.
In the Launceston Magistrates Court today, the prosecution said it would tender no evidence on the charges and Magistrate Robert Pearce dismissed the matter.
Mr Foster did not appear in court.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/23/2722327.htm
StopTAC's Stephanie Dyer was disgusted.
'We have now seen the evidence in this case and it is simply hideous", she said. 'We saw cows who had died where they lay, with their eyes ripped out by crows before they died. There is fresh blood running down their faces. It is reported that the Police Prosecution Service simply chose not to pursue the matter, but we believe that Foster does have more charges pending.
"The conduct of cases of the most egregious cruelty in this state is simply appalling. These cases need to be totally removed from the Police Prosecution Service, which lacks either the will or the ability to bring serial and egregious animal abusers to justice'.
StopTAC has long maintained that animal cruelty cases are never treated with the seriousness they deserve, with the most shocking cases, such as the Mitchell case, dragging on for years with no end in sight. 14 of the 200+ charges, dating back to 2007, against Mitchell were found to be proven in Burnie on January 21, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
'Our information is that Foster has some influence in the state, so we wonder why, when substantial evidence was available, this case could possibly have been dismissed having seen the evidence. As for Mitchell, we are encouraging Tasmania Police to action the arrest warrant and extradite him from Victoria as a matter of priority', Ms Dyer concluded.
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