Owner caused goat’s suffering, court hears
A woman who owned a goat that had to be euthanised due to ill health claims the animal was in fair condition.
But the animal, simply named Goatie, had not had water for a day, and the only thing approaching food found in its stomach was plastic and rope.
Yvette Dooney pleaded guilty in the Palmerston North District Court to ill-treating the pet.
The SPCA sent an inspector to her Sanson property in August after a tipoff about a goat with no water or shelter. The inspector found Goatie chained to a trailer, reluctant to stand and with eyes sunk into its head.
Dooney gave Goatie over to the SPCA, who had the animal examined by a vet.
The vet gave Goatie a bodyweight score of 1.5 out of five. The score goes from emaciated at zero to obese at five.
Goatie’s ribs were easily felt through the skin, while individual vertebrae could be seen with the naked eye.
The sunken eyes were a sign of severe dehydration, while there was also evidence of parasites.
All four of Goatie’s hooves were overgrown. The vet decided there were no other options but to euthanise the goat.
A post-mortem found no food inside the animal, but 40 centimetres of knotted rope, a 15cm by 44cm sheet of yellow plastic and another foreign object in its rumen.
There was also a severe parasite infestation in the gut and signs of liver disease.
Goatie would have suffered significant pain and distress, the vet found.
Dooney told the SPCA she had owned the goat for months, and the animal last had water the day before the inspector arrived.
She believed Goatie had always been runty and was fine on the day of the inspection.
The goat had been drenched in May last year, but the drench was meant to have been used in 2015 so would not have worked as well. The dose was not high enough for a goat of the animal’s size.
The SPCA was seeking to have its $544.21 vet bill covered and have Dooney banned from owning or controlling livestock for three years.
Defence lawyer Richard Bedford said Dooney had three dogs she was fond of and wanted to keep once the prosecution ended.
Dooney will be sentenced next month.