A SEVERELY malnourished pig died and two others were emaciated when vets and an animal welfare officer found them in “quagmire” conditions, a court heard.

Owner John Norris was convicted of allowing the unnecessary suffering of the pig, sow and piglet.

Norris, 39, of Buttermere Avenue, Chorley, was sentenced to a community order and was banned from keeping pigs for 10 years by magistrates.

Animal welfare officer Warren Leach, from Bolton Council, and two vets visited the site on land off the A6 Blackrod bypass in mid-December after receiving a tip-off.

Nicola Raby, prosecuting for the council, told the court: “Mr Leach says that in the field they found a makeshift pen built out of wooden pallets, boards and chicken wire. Within the pen was a small shelter, which was clearly inadequate both in size and in the amount of weather protection it provided.

“Mr Leach describes the inside of the pen as a quagmire about six inches deep in mud. He says that they were the worst conditions he had seen in eight years.

“In the pen it was found that there was a dead male pig, later found to be a male, lying within the shelter and a live sow and piglet. Mr Leach says that both surviving animals were in a particularly poor and emaciated condition, and that the ribcage and backbone of the sow could be seen – a clear indication of inadequate diet.

“He says that the dead pig had also been emaciated. All the pigs were very muddy.”

The court heard there was no evidence of food in the pen, although there was an empty tray. Also, the animals did not have access to an adequate supply of fresh drinking water, the only water available in the pen was in a bowl containing a mixture of rainwater and mud – and there was no drained lying area in the pen, or straw or any other form of bedding.

Norris claimed he had bought the pigs a fortnight before from a “pre-loved” website and had no documentation.

He was later charged with eight animal welfare offences including failing to provide fresh drinking water, adequate diet and a well-drained lying area.

All counts were proved in his absence, at the magistrates court on Monday and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Norris, previously of The Avenue, Adlington, was later arrested and sentenced on Wednesday.

Magistrates handed him a 12-month community order including 150 hours unpaid work, banned him from keeping pigs for 10 years and ordered him to pay £1,000 costs.