Pedigree bull’s life in balance after court case
THE fate of pedigree bull Hallmark Boxter hangs in the balance after a courtroom battle to save him from a death sentence came to a close.
After many hours of legal argument a High Court judge in London – who has the task of deciding what is to happen to the “much-loved” animal also known as Boxy – yesterday reserved his judgment.
No date was given for Mr Justice McCombe’s ruling on the fight over the future of the champion bull who faces being destroyed after testing positive for bovine TB. Owner Ken Jackson, of Forlorn Hope Farm in South Yorkshire, and his daughter Kate McNeil, dispute the validity of the test and want it declared void.
But Julie Anderson, appearing for Defra, submitted the bull poses a threat of spreading bovine TB.