CANBERRA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A farming couple and their staff faced more than 100 animal cruelty charges on Wednesday after the RSPCA allegedly found several thousand head of cattle in distress.
"For some of those animals, the only movement they could make was to blink their eyes," the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) spokeswoman Aimee McKay said.
McKay said the animal protection organization inspectors checked 12 properties owned by South Australian couple Thomas Kenneth Brinkworth and Patricia Ann Brinkworth in early 2007 after taking a call from a member of the public.
There were several thousand cattle in distress with about 800 either dead or dying from a lack of food on the properties in the state's southeast, McKay was quoted by Australian Associated Pressas said.
The Brinkworths have been charged with 61 counts of ill treating an animal and nine counts of failing to comply with the code of practice.
The Brinkworths and their farm hands faced a maximum penalty of a 10,000 Australian dollars (6,500 U.S. dollars) fine or one year in jail for each offense.
The RSPCA said this charge is believed to be one of the worst cases of alleged animal mistreatment in Australia.
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