A farmer from Groot Marico, in North West, has been fined R30 000 for neglecting to feed a herd of 600 cattle, the Beeld newspaper reported on Thursday.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) inspector Jaco Pieterse told Beeld that four of the emaciated animals later had to be euthanised.

Van Wyk was found guilty of animal cruelty by the Groot Marico Magistrate’s Court, and was ordered to pay the SPCA’s legal costs.

Half of Van Wyk’s sentence was suspended for five years.

Pieterse said the SPCA was notified of the case by the local police in 2010.

They sent inspectors to the property and found that the cattle had neither food nor water. – Sapa