Man banned from owning dogs for 5 years
A Te Kopuru man has been sentenced to two months’ community detention for starving his three pet dogs.
Te Wira Panapa, who was convicted of ill-treatment of an animal, was also ordered to pay reparation of $1845 and court costs of $500, and was disqualified from owning dogs for five years, when he appeared before the Whangarei District Court.
The court heard that SPCA inspectors visited the defendant’s property in October 2016, finding three dogs in poor physical condition.
Tama was curled up in a tight ball and chained to a tree. He had access to a bucket containing dirty water and was extremely thin. Big Boy was inside a kennel and run without access to water. He too was in extremely thin body condition.
A very thin 10-week-old puppy, Haze, was running free on the property.
The inspectors seized all three dogs and took them for veterinary attention. All three were described as emaciated, with body condition scores of 1/5. They had obvious rib, lumbar and pelvis prominence, and no discernible body fat. Big Boy and Tama were also suffering from pressure sores on their hips and hocks.
The veterinarian believed that all three dogs were suffering pain and discomfort as a result of starvation, and had likely been suffering from malnutrition for several weeks. Under the care of the SPCA, all three dogs improved, and within a month were all at their ideal weight.
SPCA CEO Andrea Midgen said the organisation saw far too many unnecessary cases of animals suffering neglect across the country.
“These three dogs were completely dependent on their owner for their survival. His blatant disregard for his dogs’ health and wellbeing demanded legal consequences,” she said.
“We’re grateful that puppy Haze made a full recovery, and we adopted her to a new, loving family. Unfortunately, although Tama and Big Boy healed physically, psychologically they did not. The mental trauma of their experience left them aggressive, and despite our very best efforts they were unable to be rehabilitated. SPCA vets had no choice but to euthanase them.
“While the SPCA is pleased that a disqualification period of five years was handed down, we would have liked to also see a court-ordered education programme so the defendant could learn about his obligations of animal ownership. Education is the best way to truly prevent this type of animal cruelty occurring in the future,” she added.