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Two Canterbury farmers have been convicted after a mother cow was skinned alive as the act was livestreamed to viewers on social media.

While the court acknowledged that it could not be proven whether the cow consciously experienced suffering, the video has left Argie Villa, 34, and Russel Galeos, 33, standing before a judge.

Appearing in Christchurch District Court on Monday, the pair were fined $2000 each on a charge under the Animal Welfare Act.

The court determined that the two farmers did not take adequate measures to minimise unnecessary or unreasonable pain and distress.

But Danette Wereta, General Secretary of the Animal Justice Party, said it was “unthinkable to consider that [the cow] did not feel extreme pain or terror”.

“Referring to her as ‘it’ also highlights the systemic problem; she was a living, sentient mum capable of fear and suffering,” Wereta said.

“If a human had been treated in this way, the criminal liability would be indisputable.

“Yet under current law, the burden of proof falls on an animal that cannot speak for herself.

“This is morally and legally unacceptable.”

Wereta said while New Zealand is marketed as a “clean, green country” that there were many “dirty dairy and environmentally harmful farming practices”.

“Recent changes allowing mumma pigs to be kept in cages and the proposed rollback of live animal exports reveal what farming in New Zealand is really like - cruel, shocking, and unethical,” Wereta said.

Wereta claimed this was “not an isolated incident”.

“Footage from farms around the country reveals systemic cruelty, fear, and neglect endured by farmed animals,” Wereta said.

“The legal loopholes that allow such acts to go insufficiently punished must be closed and minimum standards raised in codes of welfare”.

The farmers pleaded guilty under the Animal Welfare Act and were each fined $2000.

Police were approached for a comment and referred enquiries to the Ministry for Primary Industries, which has also been contacted.