A judge of Victoria's County Court ruled that the stud Murray Grey cattle - including two bulls and three calves - were shot by an RSPCA inspector with "indecent haste".

Judge John Bowman on Friday said that the herd was put down without consultation of its owners, James Holdsworth and Heather Ellison.

The pair sued the RSPCA for damages - reported at more than $2 million - after its inspector Jason Nicholls shot the cattle in the presence of colleague Mark Roberts following a complaint about starving animals.

Mr Holdsworth and Ms Ellison argued the cattle were not in a condition that required destruction while the RSPCA denied negligence.

It argued the cattle were abandoned, neglected and in an emaciated condition. In his summarised key findings, Judge Bowman said when Mr Nicholls rang Mr Holdsworth on May 27, 2003, Mr Holdsworth told him he was part owner of the cattle.

He arranged to meet Mr Nicholls on May 30 and that Mr Holdsworth was "not aware of the urgency of the situation or that the killing of the cattle had commenced".

The judge said that Mr Nicholls did not contact Mr Holdsworth on May 28 when he had "put down a few animals and made arrangements for a major assessment of the herd the following day".

On May 30, he said, Mr Nicholls, who at all times was "in control of the situation and the operation", started the "assessment process which was effectively a culling of the herd".

Judge Bowman continued: "If any doubt existed as to the ownership of the cattle, this had been removed before the assessment process began ... Nicholls having been provided with the results of the business name search."

At an earlier stage, before the killings, a contractor working for the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust - which owned the property where the cattle were agisted - spoke to Mr Nicholls about Mr Holdsworth coming for a meeting on May 30.

Judge Bowman also found that Mr Nicholls at not stage clarified the "ownership situation" with a veterinarian Dr Callum Irvine who attended the property and met with Mr Nicholls.

"Had Dr Irvine known that the ownership of the animals was something of which Nicholls was aware and an owner would have been available on Friday, 30 May, to discuss the matter," the judge said, "that would have absolutely made a difference to the course of the action".

Judge Bowman said that "in controlling the situation, Nicholls effectively did not permit the treatment of individual animals."

He continued: "The whole operation conducted by Nicholls on behalf of the (RSPCA) ... seems to have been conducted with what could be described as indecent haste.

"There is effectively no reason why that whole operation could not have been put on hold for at least a day so that Holdsworth (and Ellison) could have been consulted in relation to what could be done with the cattle." The case was adjourned for the question of damages to be argued.

Judge Bowman's 258-page judgment followed a "keenly contested" trial that sat for 44 days.