Mount Isa man Christopher John Anderson, 50, has been sentenced to three and a half years' prison, wholly suspended, and ordered to pay $9,500 compensation after pleading guilty to one count of serious animal cruelty and several weapons and unlawful entry offences.
Judge Craig Chowdhury handed down the sentence at the District Court in Mount Isa today.
In August, 2021, Anderson shot and killed 41 horses, including three pregnant mares and their fetuses, at Yanburra Station, 60 kilometres north of Longreach in western Queensland.
Horses were herded together in small clusters and then shot, most in the stomach and hindquarters, which resulted in what would have been slow and painful deaths, the court heard.
The owner of the property, Edward Pirie Feegan, 83, had been in palliative care at the time of the incident.
Neighbours and passers-by alerted Longreach police to the carcasses and Anderson was arrested after his phone and car were found to be in use in the area at the time.
After his arrest, Anderson argued that he had visited the property to shoot brumbies.
Judge Chowdhury said the case "did not add up".
"To say the facts of this case are alarming is an understatement," he said.
The court heard Anderson suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from the accidental death of his young son in October 2009, which resulted in the breakdown of his marriage and him becoming estranged from his daughter.
As a result of the suspended sentence, Mr Anderson will avoid jail time.
