Roadside butchery of beast shocks pair

A Te Kauwhata mother was shocked after seeing the butchering of a cattle beast at the side of the road as she drove her daughter to school.

Alison Davies was driving Jessica, 14, to Te Kauwhata College about 8.30am on the last day of term and passed a G&S Day Homekill truck parked outside Clive and Marie Tarry's lifestyle block on Travers Rd.

"We saw a truck parked on the grass verge which had The Undertakers written on it and a beast that was on hooks with its guts hanging out and the head was on the grass," Mrs Davies said.

"It was revolting and Jessica got really upset about it."

Having summoned up the courage to return home by the same route, Mrs Davies pulled over and complained to the people at the truck.

"They were a bit shocked that I went off at them," she said. "The road had blood all over it and my boots got blood on them. I came home and rang Waikato District Council and they said there was nothing they could do about it."

The scene brought Jessica, who described herself as "not a great meat eater", to the verge of tears.

Mrs Davies said she was not opposed to home kill. Her only concern was that it was done at the side of a public road.

Betty Seddon, a carer who also lives in Travers Rd, said she too was shocked by the sight as she drove by.

"I don't think it's very pleasant," she said. "Why can't they do it on their own property?"

Her husband Brian came across a similar incident about a year ago. On that occasion he saw a cattle beast, with its throat slit, jumping about half a metre in the air. "I stopped and said `you should not do that there' and they just looked at me."

G&S Day Homekill owner Glen Day apologised for the distress caused.

His workers had planned to do the Travers Rd job earlier, when few people were around, but had been held up. His firm would look for an alternative site, away from public view. It was the first such complaint in 14 years of business.

Mr Day said not everyone found the process distressing. "We have kids who will come and watch."

Mrs Tarry, who also apologised, said the beast had been shot in the paddock and cut up on the driveway. She said she and her husband were not country people, having moved to Te Kauwhata from the city two years ago, and they relied on homekill companies.

"It's just unfortunate and we are really apologetic," she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News