Michael Dzidowski in court for stealing portions of beef

A Gympie court has heard how a group of friends found a cow that looked like it had been hit by a car and decided to put it out of its misery. But police thought differently.

Gympie Courthouse. Photo Lachie Millard

An Amamoor Creek salesman was caught with three quarters of a beast on his property has pleaded guilty to stealing meat and been fined $500 by a Gympie court.

Michael Dzidowski, 48, was overhead on a radio channel saying “I was caught going in the area where we shot that cow last night,” by his neighbour’s family, Gympie Magistrates Court heard on Monday.

Dzidowski was camping and clay shooting with friends when he noticed a cow that appeared to have been hit by a vehicle, and said it was put out of its misery due to injuries, the court heard.

It heard that on December 6, 2021, the owner of the cattle and his son went to Dzidowski’s property and found a butchered cow in a nearby shed.

On December 13, police searched his property and found the remains of the cow a short distance from the shed.

Dzidowski is a co-owner of the property and bought 560 acres (226ha) of the land from the owner of the cow and claimed to have permission to be on the property from the neighbour at the time.

He told the court it was a group decision not to waste the meat.

Dzidowski pleaded guilty to the charge. No conviction was recorded.