Ken Turner, the operator of Boorungie Station in outback New South Wales, where the cussing was alleged to have taken place, said, “The allegation was that bad language was used by an employee on the property in front of the sheep, and that they could have been offended by the use of bad language.”

The president of Lawyers for Animals, Nichola Donovan, argued that verbal abuse of “an extreme nature” could constitute “an act of violence” against an animal.