A free-range egg firm was shut down after it was found littered with dead hens which had been left in horrendous living conditions with no food or water.
Peter Armitage, who was the former owner and director of Caithness Free Range Eggs Ltd, has been jailed for causing suffering to 2,000 hens in his care. The 41-year-old was found guilty of a string of sickening animal and hygiene welfare offences, which took place at Lochquoy Farm in Durran, by Castletown, between September 2016 and September 2017.
Wick Sheriff Court today heard how thousands of hens were left to die in the hands of Armitage, who neglected them and left the animals without food and water. Their corpses were later found hanging out the mouths of pigs during an unannounced inspection by Highland Council.
