A Hawke's Bay woman has been fined and banned from owning animals for five years after being found guilty of ill-treating her dog, resulting in its death.
According to the SPCA Kura Munro was found guilty after a one-day trial in October, and was sentenced on Monday at the Napier District court to nine months’ supervision, disqualified from owning dogs for five years, and ordered to pay $740 reparations.
When found dead by SPCA inspectors the dog Whero was in extreme condition, his hips, ribs, and spine were all clearly visible.
Munro admitted she did not feed or check on her dog Whero herself because "It was too cold in the morning before going to work and dark in the evening when she got home," according to SPCA.
"The pathologist concluded that Whero would have undergone weeks to months of prolonged catabolism to reach the state he was in, and that the hookworm enteritis would have likely contributed to his condition, but was unlikely to be solely responsible," SPCA said in a statement.
"The combination of starvation and the suspected gastric ulceration and blood loss would have caused severe discomfort, and would have been obvious to a layperson."
Later Munro claimed her ex-partner, whom she had recently split with was responsible for feeding the dog when he went to the property daily to look after the children.
"Her ex-partner denies this, and enquiries revealed that for several weeks leading up to Whero’s death, he was not there for periods of time, although he was there in the days before Whero died," SPCA says.
Chief executive of SPCA Andrea Midgen condemned the dog's treatment.
"It's unbelievable to think that a person would treat an animal like this. In the last weeks of Whero's life he was essentially a prisioner on a chain, at the total mercy of his owners," she said.
“Why a person would treat their pet like this is beyond comprehension.” Ms Midgen said.
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