A second man has been charged after a herd of calves were allegedly mowed down by a 4WD in a paddock.
Police allege a Toyota Prado entered a Howatharra cattle farm, north of Geraldton in WA’s mid-west in the early hours of on August 20 and attempted to run over the three-month-old calves.
Farmers Calvin and Karen Royce came across the horrific find on their property five days later.
It is unknown how many calves were killed during the incident but police allege at least eight were injured, leading to one needing to be euthanised.
Detectives from the Financial Crime Squad arrested a man, 22, from Glenfield, south of Howatharra on Thursday.
He was charged with criminal damage or destruction of property and cruelty to animals.
He remains in custody but will appear in Carnarvon Magistrates Court later on Thursday.
It comes a week after police arrested a man, 21, accused of driving the Toyota and deliberately trying to mow down the newborn calves.
A second man has been charged after a 4WD allegedly ran over a number of three-month-old calves on a Howatharra cattle farm last month. Pictured are tyre marks on the property
That man, 21 will reappear in Geraldton Magistrates Court on September 18 on the same charges as the Glenfield man.
Detective Superintendent Peter Foley last week confirmed police were aware of disturbing footage of the incident.
‘We are aware of a video circulating online depicting what can only be described as an abhorrent act of animal cruelty,’ Dewt Supt Foley said in a statement.
‘The vision is confronting and we take incidents of this nature extremely seriously.
‘Animal cruelty has no place in our society and is something that will not be tolerated by the WA Police Force.’
The Royces previously allowed public access through the property to access the Oakajee river mouth.
At least eight calves (stock image) were injured during the incident, leading to one being euthanised after sustaining a suspected broken back
The farmers have since shut off access and are planning to increase camera surveillance and security in the wake of the incident.
Mr Royce told the ABC were alerted to a calf being ‘sick’ only to find ‘bits and pieces’ of animals across the paddock.
They claim up to 10 calves were killed or dismembered during the incident, including one which sustained a suspected broken back and had to be euthanised.
‘They don’t fear cars at all, you’ve got animals sleeping, that are suddenly sitting up looking at headlights as they’re (allegedly) getting mowed down,’ Mr Royce said.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk