Trading Standards is urging struggling farmers to seek help after a farming family from the Okehampton area were banned from keeping animals for ten years after neglecting their cattle.

William Dunn, 50, of East Barton Farm, Exbourne, admitted to 24 animal welfare charges.

His parents Rosamund Dunn, 76, and 79-year-old Edmund Dunn admitted ten animal welfare charges at Exeter Magistrates’ Court.

They kept cattle at two farms in Exbourne, with milk supplying a dairy.

The court heard that Trading Standards and the Animal and Plant Health Agency inspected the farms several times between 2023 and 2025 and found lame cows untreated, vulnerable calves surrounded by broken bicycles, piles of rubbish, gas canisters and broken bottles and livestock with no shelter, food or water.

On one occasion they found a cow lying down in a field; she was soaking wet, shivering from pain and cold and unable to stand.

Cattle were found standing knee deep in slurry with no feed other than wrapped bales and they had to eat through the plastic to feed.

One young heifer was found injured from being picked up in a tractor bucket. No vet had been called and no treatment given.

A baby calf was found in a small hutch; it was unresponsive with laboured breathing. It had not received any treatment and died.

During each visit, Trading Standards officers found dead cattle in cubicles or partially buried in areas where livestock had access, which increased the risk of disease.

Each time the Dunns were given clear advice, detailing what was wrong and what they needed to do. And on each occasion the advice was ignored.

Councillor Simon Clist, Devon County Council’s cabinet member for Trading Standards, himself a farmer, said: “While taking action like this is often the last resort, Trading Standards will take appropriate action to ensure that animals are kept in a safe and healthy environment.

“Farming is a large part of our economy, and the continuing welfare of animals is a priority for the service and of concern to the wider public.

“I understand how difficult farming can be but please, if you are a farmer and you are struggling, seek help; there is support available. Because if you don’t you could be putting your livelihood at risk.”

The Food Standards Agency carried out 19 inspections of the Dunns’ farms between 2022 and 2024.

Alex Fry, operations manager for Heart of the South West Trading Standards, which includes Devon, said: “The conditions in which these animals were kept fell well below acceptable welfare standards. The Dunns’ failure to follow our advice left us with no alternative but to take formal action against them in the courts.

“We have a duty to ensure that animal welfare standards are complied with.”

The Dunns admitted a raft of offences in the prosecutions brought by Trading Standards and the Food Standards Agency and have been banned from keeping cattle, sheep or pigs for the next ten years.

William Dunn was fined a total of £27,000, with £15,000 of that in fines for the Food Standards Agency offences.

Rosamund Dunn and Edmund Dunn were fined £3,053 each.

They have been given three months to sell their 170-strong herd owned by the Dunn parents, with William Dunn running the farms.