Animal cruelty charges against prominent Kimberley pastoralist Jack Burton dropped

Animal cruelty charges against prominent Kimberley pastoralist Jamie “Jack” Burton have been dropped after the prosecution cited a lack of evidence against the accused. The former chief executive of Yeeda Pastoral Company, Mr Burton had previously pleaded not guilty to five charges of animal cruelty which were alleged to have taken place between April and May 2019. The charges related to an incident in which six cattle with ingrown horns arrived at Kimberley Meat Company abattoir. The pastoral company has continued to maintain its innocence, with chairman Mervyn Key saying in July of 2021 there was little information about the circumstances leading up to the charges and it was always the company’s practice that any ingrown horns were identified and reported to the on-duty veterinarian. Yeeda Pastoral Company owns and operates the Kimberley Meat Company and has six cattle stations with 100,000 head of cattle across 1 million hectares of the Kimberley. Mr Burton stepped down from his head position in November of 2020, selling his family shares in the company and pocketing nearly $19 million as a result. On August 10 this year, Mr Burton appeared in the Central Law Courts in Perth to be told all charges would be dismissed pursuant to the prosecution’s lack of evidence. Yeeda Pastoral Company, which was facing two counts of animal cruelty, has also had all charges dismissed. The company continues to operate as usual, supplying beef products to clients in Australia and around the world.