A Perthshire farmer who bred dangerous wild boar has been banned from keeping the animals after a catalogue of escapes from his farm.
Perth and Kinross councillors refused David Rowe permission to keep 55 wild boar at Bamff Home Farm near Alyth.
The wild boar are classed by law as dangerous animals that must be kept securely by a suitable person but they were able to roam free in 2007, 2011 and 2012. Further escapes took place in November 2014 and earlier this year.
James Dixon, the regulatory services manager with the council’s environment service, told the licensing committee there had been a “catalogue of failure to comply with the law”.
Mr Rowe has been responsible for wild boar at Bamff since mid November 2013.
Local farmers suggested the escape of the animals from Bamff Home Farm had been a “regular occurrence” in March 2014.
In November last year further escapes were reported by a resident and a local farmer told The Courier he had shot up to 30 of the beasts over a seven-year period.
Mr Rowe told councillors he had erected a stock fence with 18-inch-high electric wire two feet inside to keep the boar enclosed. He said he had also begun to assemble deer fencing around parts of the enclosure to keep the boar in.
Mr Rowe stated: “It is escape-proof from the animals’ point of view.”
He said he is now living on the site to ensure there are no more escapes from the farm and continued: “This is a business I’m trying to build and I’m trying to making a living out of it.
“I’m more than happy to work a lot more closely with environmental health.
“My passion is the animals themselves and delivering a very, very good product.”
He added: “I have invested a considerable amount of money in fencing and it is an ongoing investment.”
Mr Dixon told councillors: “The enclosure, if it’s kept the way it is now, is suitable.
“That enclosure has been upgraded just recently and comes in the wake of numerous complaints about escaped animals from that area over the past four to five years.
“We are saying that as a service we do not think that his track record shows that he meets the requirements of the act.”
Mr Rowe indicated to councillors that he would be considering an appeal against their decision.