Bridgewater woman Hayley June Campbell, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of cruelty to an animal, after starving a bull terrier cross named Ripper nearly to death.
For a crime that one veteran RSPCA officer described as the worst case of emaciation he had ever seen, magistrate Sam Mollard sentenced Campbell to six weeks’ jail, wholly suspended on condition that she be of good behaviour for three years.
Campbell was also banned from owning a dog for three years, and was ordered to pay the RSPCA veterinary costs of almost $1000.
RSPCA prosecutor Glenn Carey said the case was “right up there” with the worst cruelty cases he had seen in Tasmania.
“Two different vets told me that Ripper would have died if we had got to him even a day later,” Mr Carey said.
By the time that we got to him, he could only move his eyelashes.”
Unfortunately, Ripper later died.
RSPCA chief executive Peter West said Ripper’s ordeal had hit his staff hard.
The dog’s plight was reported by a concerned member of the public, a lead that Mr West strongly encouraged the community to follow. “What we say is, if you see animal cruelty, report it,” he said.
“We can’t magic action on our own, we need to be alerted. I can assure people that we follow up 100 per cent of cruelty complaints.”
Mr West said that last year the RSPCA hotline took 3000 complaints, with the organisation able to deal with 82 per cent of those cases through owner education. Taking animal owners to court was a last resort.
(The Mercury - Dec 11, 2015)
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