A 26-year-old man and 25-year-old-woman who allowed their two Siberian Huskies to starve, one of them to death, were sentenced in the Elizabeth Magistrates court on Friday 18 March 2022 to five months and 12 days in home detention.

The couple from Adelaide’s northern suburbs pleaded guilty to two charges under SA’s Animal Welfare Act of Ill-Treatment of an Animal in relation to their two dogs.

An RSPCA SA inspector attended at the Davoren Park property on 6 June 2021 in response to a cruelty report. No one was home at the time, but the inspector observed over a fence both the deceased dog and a second dog, emaciated but alive, in the backyard.

He accessed the backyard via a side gate and located the deceased dog at the back door of the house. The surviving dog, an eight-year-old female Siberian Husky named Sky, was in such poor condition she was immediately taken to a nearby vet for treatment.

Sky weighed 11.3kg and had a body condition score of 1/9, indicating extreme emaciation. RSPCA SA Chief Vet Dr Brad Ward stated that the dog had been rescued just in time. He estimated that Sky had been starved for between two to six weeks prior to her seizure.

A post-mortem of the deceased dog, a three-year-old male Siberian Husky named Jedi, revealed he had died recently and weighed 11kg.

Both defendants were ordered to pay costs of almost $1500 each and prohibited from owning any animals until further order. The home detention order was effective immediately and the terms of the order include 20 hours of community service and compliance with electronic monitoring.

 

Cases coming up in April

Two female defendants from a regional town north of Adelaide will face the Adelaide Magistrates Court on cruelty charges relating to a large number of dogs, cats, native animals and birds found in poor condition and being kept in squalid conditions. The majority of the animals recovered and were rehomed after the defendants surrendered them.

A long-running trial will resume in the Christies Beach Magistrates court with a male defendant from the western suburbs who is charged with failing to ensure a dog with multiple health issues received veterinary care. The elderly dog remains in RSPCA care.

A female defendant from the northern suburbs will face the Elizabeth Magistrates court on 10 charges of ill-treatment of an animal in relation to four horses and one pony found in emaciated condition and with no access to water. All the horses remain in RSPCA care. The pony has been rehomed after he was surrendered by the defendant.

A female defendant from the northern suburbs will face the Elizabeth Magistrates court to face charges relating to an emaciated dog found in squalid conditions and with no access to water, a second dog and a cat also being kept in squalid conditions without access to water and a guinea pig found confined inside a filthy small cage.

A female defendant from the southern suburbs will face Christies Beach Magistrates Court charged with failure to provide adequate nutrition to a dog, found in emaciated condition in a backyard. The dog recovered, was surrendered to RSPCA by the defendant and has been rehomed.

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