Animal ban after llamas left to starve

Harrogate magistrates heard five of John Shaw’s llamas died, while the other animals were found in an emaciated state in a frozen field on the outskirts of Knaresborough in February, with scant grazing, an empty ring-feeder and dilapidated shelter.

Shaw, 41, of Littondale Avenue, Knaresborough, said he could not afford to feed them.

He pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering leading to death and two counts of not providing a suitable diet and failing to protect the llamas from pain, suffering and disease.

He was jailed for 12 weeks, suspended for a year, and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work, with £3,050 costs, and given a 10-year ban on keeping animals.