Ferry company says truck operator in control of horses on board

UPDATED: TT-Line has argued livestock transport regulations only cover “land-based haulage” as a hearing into the deaths of 16 polo ponies on the Spirit continues in court.

Action at the 2018 Barnbougle Polo in Tasmania.

REGULATIONS governing the transport of livestock are limited to road vehicles and do not apply to aircraft or sea vessels, Spirit of Tasmania operator TT-Line has argued in a court hearing in Burnie.

In November last year, the shipping company pleaded not guilty to animal welfare charges after 16 ponies were found dead following a voyage from Devonport in January 2018.

The ponies were found dead by former Australian polo team captain, and truck driver, Andrew Williams, who owned seven of the animals.

Mr Williams discovered the dead ponies when he opened the float he was driving at a property in regional Victoria.

The ponies had competed at the annual Barnbougle Polo Tournament, north of Launceston, and were to be transported back to NSW.

TT-Line has been charged with one count of using a method reasonably likely to result in unreasonable and unjustified pain and suffering to animals, and 28 counts of a person transporting a horse across Bass Strait and failing to ensure the horse was individually stalled.

The Bass Strait ferry operator, through lawyer Robert Taylor, yesterday said the horses were inside a transport trailer.

“The regulations only cover land-based haulage,” Mr Taylor argued.

“It would not apply to aircraft and, in our submission, would not apply to ships. TT-Line is not a person transporting a horse across Bass Strait.

“The care and charge of animals under the regulations is down to those who loaded them into vehicles, not those who directed their stowage on Spirit of Tasmania 1.”

But Crown Prosecutor Simon Nicholson said Magistrate Leanne Topfer should reject TT-Line’s argument.

“The regulations recognise the operator of a vessel is in control of a horse’s physical situation across Bass Strait,” Mr Nicholson said.

“Both the vessel owner and the truck driver have care and charge of those animals.”

Mr Williams, represented by Greg Barns, has also pleaded not guilty to one count of using a method likely to result in pain and suffering, and 16 counts of failing to ensure the horses were individually stalled. Fellow truck driver Thomas Martin also pleaded not guilty, denying 12 counts of failing to ensure the horses were individually stalled.

Mr Williams, his company Willo Polo and his employer Twynam Agricultural Group, are also suing TT-Line for negligence, claiming $739,000 in losses.

The case has been adjourned until March 31.