A cattle dealer from Somerton have been fined more than £13,000 by Yeovil magistrates.
Richard Webb, aged 49, of Penny Farthing Cottages, Pesters Lane, pleaded guilty to 24 offences brought under the Trades Description Act and animal health legislation, which require cattle to wear two ear tags and have individual passports to enable their movements to be traced.
He was fined £13,350 and ordered to pay £3,000 costs. Prosecuting was Michael Boon on behalf of Somerset County Council's Trading Standards Department.
Mr Boon told magistrates there was concern when Mr Webb took three animals into Southern Counties Fresh Foods in Langport to be slaughtered for human consumption - all cattle put into the human food chain must be under 30 months old.
Mr Webb's cattle did not match the description on their passports so their age was unknown.
DNA techniques were employed on the carcasses which confirmed that the passports accompanying the three animals belonged to other cattle.
Mr Boon said: "Following this incident last June there was concern about other animals on Mr Webbs' holding and inspections were carried out to check his records. There were a number of deficiencies regarding the identity of his animals.
Cattle are supposed to wear an ear tag in each ear to ensure their identity is known if a tag is rubbed off but Mr Webb had five pairs of cattle sharing the same ear tags with only one in each ear.
"Passports he had sent to the Rural Payments Agency to claim subsidies did not relate to animals he had on the holding and there were no records as to the fate of these animals."
Magistrates were told that Mr Webb had two previous convictions - in April 2002 for failing to apply eartags to an animal and, in November 2001, for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal by providing inadequate care.
In mitigation, Sam Morton said Mr Webb denied any deliberate actions of dishonesty. He had got divorced and was unable to cope with the paperwork.