Robert and Katherine Crowther were sentenced in Inverell Local Court last week with $8800 in veterinary and boarding costs, prohibited from owning more than three horses combined for five years, and issued with a good behaviour bond under the Prevention to Cruelty to Animals Act.
Mr Crowther has been a race horse trainer in Inverell and the region for many years, most recently racing horses in 2013. NSW RSPCA inspector Alistair Hills attended the Crowthers’ property in 2014 after a public complaint.
The couple was not home at the initial visit, but were present the next day when Mr Hills, a second inspector and local veterinarians returned.
Mr Hills said the couple readily surrendered 13 of their 15 horses.
“They I think were fairly resigned to the fact that they knew the situation they were in, the horses were in, were not good,” he said.
The Crowthers were individually charged once with a failure to provide food and with four charges of failure to provide veterinary treatment. Food was present on the property, but discovered locked and inaccessible to the animals.
“It was caged away but it was accessible for the sheep, the hay was feeding the sheep, which they also have a large number of sheep out there,” Mr Hills said.
The 13 horses were removed over two days, and one was euthanized on the property.
A local veterinarian judged that the horses’ poor condition was due to lack of feed and a heavy parasite load.
The RSPCA stated all surrendered horses were re-homed interstate save one with an old leg injury.
Mr Hills said the remaining horses at the Crowther property have been monitored.
“The horses they have in care now are in very good condition, so they’ve demonstrated they can look after three horses; they can’t look after 15 horses,” he said.
“This particular situation, things had degenerated too far and they were financially not capable of fixing the problem themselves.”
(Inverell Times - Nov 27, 2015)
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