SPCA’s 2018 list of animal cruelty shame released as it appeals for help from public

The 2018 “List of Shame” includes a Labrador which starved to death, a duck with its beak blown off with a firecracker and a horse left with a deformed and engorged eye.

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SPCA chief executive Andrea Midgen said they need public support to continue to help animals in need. “We receive almost no government funding to run the SPCA Inspectorate, which costs approximately $9 million every year.

“We know this list is very upsetting, but this is the reality of what our Inspectors see in their jobs … these horrific cases of neglect and violence towards animals reinforces the vital need for the SPCA’s work.

“The SPCA is here to stand up for any animal that is physically abused, abandoned, neglected, tortured and in pain – it is a very big job and we need all the support we can get.”

Greg Reid of the SPCA says repeat animal cruelty offenders should be jailed. We have some very significant serial offenders that really need to be spending time behind bars.

“Offending against the Animal Welfare Act does provide for imprisonment, and I’m trying to think of the last case that we actually had an imprisonment sentence,” Mr Reid told 1 NEWS.

The law was changed some time ago, but Mr Reid said as with any law, “it takes a while for the regulatory system or the courts to catch up with the law. “And that’s unfortunate because we have some very significant serial offenders that really need to be spending time behind bars frankly.”

Mr Reid said he doesn’t think the SPCA is dealing with more repeat offenders “but we do have, unfortunately, a small proportion that are repeat offenders and they are consistently there”.

“There is going to be a point where we’re going to need to have the courts and judges take seriously the penalties. We are going to be needing to start to get tough on some of these repeat offenders.”

The list

1. Sully, a spaniel/poodle cross was left in a dark room and was suffering malnutrition and matted fur.
2. A man who kept 600 chickens, roosters and ducks in appalling conditions – they were so hungry they were trying to eat the dead bodies of other birds.
3. Five-year-old Labrador cross Tasha collapsed from chronic starvation before she was taken to a vet – she died the same day.
4. A mallard duck was found outside Middlemore Hospital with its beak blown off by a firecracker – vets believe it may have been that way for three days and they had to put it to sleep.
5. Two dogs, Kasey and Keita, were left alone inside a house filled with rubbish, faeces and very little food or water – the owner told the SPCA he only visited them at the house once per week.
6. Jimmy the dog was dumped at a beach with a terrible eye injury which looked to have been caused by blunt force trauma – SPCA remarked on his loving temperament.
7. A woman was convicted after several of her animals including a goat, cow and a cat had to be euthanised for various injuries and medical issues – she had done little to alleviate them.
8. Inspectors found a horse, Frosty, left in pain with a swollen head after undergoing eye removal surgery – he had to be euthanised.
9. Lemuska the staffy was hit by a car and suffered very bad injuries to his hind legs – his owner didn’t take him to the vet and after being seized, he had to be put down.
10. Four dumped kittens were found in a rubbish bag – fortunately they were OK, and were nursed back to health by the SPCA.
11. A horse called Sandfly had a dental procedure go horribly wrong – the equine dentist cause serious damage to his dental tissue with no pain relief.