Mossley livestock dealer fined

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

by PAT CURRIE

Peter DeKlein, a licensed livestock dealer from Mossley, a hamlet about 15 kilometres southeast of London, must pay $3,750 in fines and victim surcharges after pleading guilty in a Kitchener court to three counts of moving "fallen animals" – in this case diseased cows – contrary to the Ontario regulations governing the disposal of deadstock.

The offences occurred in July 2010. DeKlein pleaded guilty in January this year after moving the cows to the Ontario Livestock Exchange where they were examined by a veterinarian and deemed unfit for transportation or slaughter.

In February of this year, DeKlein and his company, DeKlein Livestock Ltd., pleaded guilty to a single count of moving a "severely compromised" cow to Aylmer Stockyards Inc. on July 7, 2010. DeKlein was fined $1,000 plus a $250 victim surcharge and placed on probation for one year along with his company, which also received a one-year suspended sentence.

All compromised cows were euthanized on the order of an appointed veterinarian.

Reached by telephone, DeKlein refused comment other than to say: "If there’s anything in the paper, the s**t’ll hit the fan."

The Disposal of Deadstock Regulation, part of the Safety and Quality Act, requires a person who is responsible for the care of a fallen animal promptly euthanize it or arrange for it to be euthanized in a humane manner. Moving a fallen animal before it is euthanized is prohibited.

A fallen animal is defined as an animal disabled by disease, emaciation or other condition likely to cause its death. BF