Sentencing — failing to register animals — National Animal Identification and Tracing Act 2012, s 30(1)(b) & sch 2, cl 15(2)(a) — Sentencing Act 2002, ss 7 & 8 — Ministry for Primary Industries v Griffin [2020] NZDC 13048 — Ministry for Primary Industries v McIntyre [2021] NZDC 19513 — Ministry for Primary Industries v Clark [2021] NZDC 21024 — Ministry for Primary Industries v Banicevich [2021] NZDC 20753 — Ministry for Primary Industries v O’Leary [2022] NZDC 3868 — Ministry for Primary Industries v Philpott [2020] NZDC 16874 — Ministry for Primary Industries v Robinson [2020] NZDC 8503 — Ministry for Primary Industries v Megaw [2022] NZDC 1882 — Ministry for Primary Industries v Freidrich [2021] NZDC 20521 — Ministry for Primary Industries v Lowrie [2020] NZDC 13840. The defendant was for sentence on a representative charge of failing to register his farm animals in accordance with the requirements of the National Animal Identification and Tracing Act. He was a deer farmer who had received a series of warnings from the prosecutor, for moving unregistered animals off his farm. The prosecutor also gave the defendant education and assistance on how to properly register his animals. In spite of the warnings and education, the defendant continued to send more than 500 unregistered animals off his farm until being charged. The Court observed that the prosecution had put the defendant on notice regarding his obligations. Further, the defendant was an experienced farmer, and the offending had involved a large number of animals. However the defendant had sent all of his animals to one place (the meat works), which meant that his culpability was lower than in some other animal registration cases. In mitigation, the defendant had sought help to comply with his obligations, and the technology used to administer the registration regime had not functioned perfectly. The Court reviewed the authorities and arrived at a start point for sentence of $20,000. With discounts for remorse and guilty plea, the total fine was $14,000. Judgment Date: 4 May 2022.