SPCA prosecutes owner for severe neglect of her dog

The offender was today sentenced in the Te Kuiti District Court after pleading guilty to failing to ensure her dog’s physical, health, and behavioural needs were met, by failing to provide proper and sufficient food, and failing to provide necessary veterinary treatment.

Waitomo District Council Animal Control Officers attended the woman’s property in August 2023. Upon arrival, they found Sassy, a tan and white mixed-breed dog, unresponsive inside a kennel and run filled with faeces and rubbish. The condition Sassy was in was so extreme that officers at first believed she was deceased. She was cold to the touch, unable to stand, and showing severe signs of distress.

Sassy was seized for veterinary assessment, which revealed she was severely emaciated, dehydrated, and suffering from multiple ulcerative wounds, muscle wastage, and gastric ulceration. Her condition was so critical that she had to be vet recommendation was immediate humane euthanasia was the only means to prevent further suffering. A post-mortem examination confirmed prolonged starvation, dehydration, and extreme neglect over a period of weeks to months.

SPCA CEO Todd Westwood says Sassy endured unimaginable suffering that could have easily been prevented.

“Animals rely on their owners to provide them with the care they need, and Sassy was completely let down,” Mr Westwood says. “It is heartbreaking to know she suffered so severely without receiving veterinary help. No animal should go ever through this.”

The offender admitted she was responsible for Sassy’s care and acknowledged that she knew the dog was deteriorating. She also said that she should have taken Sassy to a vet but claimed she lacked the financial means to do so.

The offender was today sentenced to 280 hours of community work and ordered to pay reparations of $1,738.75 for veterinary costs. She was also disqualified from owning dogs for a period of 15 years.