General News
25 August, 2025
Jail time for animal cruelty charges
Mallee farmer, Steven Ralston, pleaded guilty to 14 charges under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, which included nine charges of aggravated cruelty comprising of 128 animals in the Bendigo Magistrates Court on Thursday, August 21.
Mr Ralston was sentenced to a six-month immediate term of imprisonment for the cruelty offences and further fined $10,000 for failing to comply with three notices issued by Agriculture Victoria Officers.
At the time of offending, Steven Ralston was the owner and person in charge of about 2400 sheep, located on properties in the Chinkapook region, while living in Corack, about 120 kilometres away.
The Chinkapook properties were made up of seven separate parcels of land, allocated to five paddocks, totalling about 3038 acres.
Between November 2022 and January 2023, Agriculture Victoria authorised officers responded to reports of dead and dying sheep at several of the Chinkapook properties.
Throughout that period, sheep on Mr Ralston's properties suffered from emaciation, flystrike, grass seed impaction and internal parasites, requiring Agriculture Victoria officers to euthanise more than 180 sheep.
In early January, Agriculture Victoria executed a seizure of all the remaining animals, where 1567 animals were further assessed as unfit to travel and were required to be euthanised on site.
Mr Ralston was also fined for failure to attend court previously, therefore breaking bail and receiving a fine of $250.
Agriculture Victoria Compliance Manager Daniel Bode said the weight of the sentencing is significant and will send an unequivocal message that those who commit these serious offences against animals will not have the privilege and opportunity to care for them in the future.
"Apart from the obvious pain and suffering of the animals, animal welfare breaches can jeopardise Victoria's reputation as a humane and responsible producer of food, which can in turn affect all producers," he said.
"This is a reminder to all livestock producers that animal cruelty will not be tolerated by the Victorian Government or our community."
Anyone wishing to make a specific complaint about livestock welfare can contact Agriculture Victoria on 136 186 or aw.complaint@agriculture.vic.gov.au.