Three men charged with pig cruelty offences

Three men have been charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a number of pigs at a farm in north Lincolnshire.

Troy Wagstaff, 30, of Chantry Lane, Grimsby, Artirs Grogprkevs, 31, of Fir Tree Farm, Goxhill and Gavin Hardy, 39, of Greengate Lane, South Killingholme, are due to appear at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court on 23 November for a plea hearing.

The men are accused of causing unnecessary suffering to four pigs by inflicting blunt force trauma, physical violence and inappropriate use of a pitch fork at a farm in Goxhill between 25 and 27 April.

Mr Wagstaff has also been charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a pig by spraying paint into the pig’s nose on 26 April.

The prosecution case has been brought by the RSPCA.

The RSPCA regularly and successfully conducts private prosecutions as part of its work, even though it has no special powers to assist it in collecting evidence.