Justice for Pebbles
LITTLE Pebbles the Shetland pony was so neglected by her owners she was at risk of starvation.
She could barely stand up on her overgrown hoofs, could not eat without pain due to neglected teeth and was infested with worms.
The people meant to care for her, Paulo Antones Pires, Nicole Lee Boyd and David Anthony Boyd were sentenced in the Burnie Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday morning after being found guilty and convicted of three counts each of animal cruelty and three each of a continuing offence.
One charge related to failing to care for the pony’s hoofs, the other its teeth and the last for failing to treat the animal for parasites.
Pebbles was originally owned by Ms Boyd but ended up living on Mr Pires’ farm in Kimberley’s Hill Rd, Milabena.
In evidence, Sheffield vet Phoebe Cahill told the court the pony was lame on all four legs with one back leg so painful she could not stand on it.
Dr Cahill said the pony’s pain would have been severe and if the RSPCA had not intervened she would have been forced to lay down and die a slow and painful death due to starvation.
The hooks on her teeth were so sharp they stopped the pony from chewing property and had created ulcers. The neglect of her teeth
would have eventually led to starvation, the court was told.
RSPCA inspector Lisa Edwards went to the property in 2020 and after warnings that the pony needed urgent care were ignored she seized the animal.
Magistrate Tamara Jago said the care arrangement for Pebbles had been ad hoc between the parties with no formal transfer of ownership or an understanding of who would look after her.
“It was Pebbles that suffered,” Magistrate Jago said.
“All defendants bore responsibility for her care. The Boyds abrogated their responsibility and Mr Piries must have seen her declining health but did not act.
“This was a situation of neglect. Pebbles was effectively abandoned.”
The court was told her deterioration was reversible and the pony made a full recovery after receiving care.
Mr Piries was fined $2250 and banned from having custody of a horse or pony for five years.
The Boyds received a fine of $1650 each and a threeyear horse custody ban.