Man banned from owning animals after attempting to cut off the tail of his dog

May 22, 2019

A Huntly man has been sentenced to community work and banned from owning animals after he attempted to cut off the tail of his pet dog.

In a prosecution brought by the SPCA William Brown pleaded guilty to performing a significant procedure on the animal and failing to ensure the animal recived the right treatment to alleviate any unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress.

On Friday May 17 he was sentenced in the Huntly District Court to 150 hours' community work, disqualified from owning animals indefinitely and ordered to pay the SPCA $954.51.

The case began two years ago when his dog, Thimble, was found roaming the streets by a Waikato District animal control officer.

The four-month old Doberman puppy had a tail wound that looked painful, inflamed and infected and a visible bone could be seen, SPCA said in a statement.

That same day an SPCA inspector came to Brown's property to investigate and saw that the dog had bone and flesh visible at the end of his tail.

"Thimble was cowering and fearful, urinating where he stood and showed signs of pain and distress.  Brown surrendered Thimble to the SPCA and he was taken to a vetclinic in Huntly and given immediate pain relief," the statement reads.

Brown admitted that he had placed a sheep docking rubber band on the dog's tail in an attempt to dock it. He told the SPCA that someone else had played with it and that's why it went bad.

Sixty per cent of the tail was left amputated leaving exposed bone, muscle and tendons protruding.

Brown then admitted that Thimble had not been microchipped, registered, vaccinated or seen a vet at any time.

"The defendant took matters into his own hands and attempted a surgical procedure with devastating results. Thimble’s learned helplessness is particularly distressing given his age, as this likely meant he had been exposed to situations where he couldn’t escape from, and his only response was to ‘give up’," says SPCA CEO Andrea Midgen.

Thimble has been adopted into a loving home after extensive care by the SPCA's canine team.

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