Inspectorate Cruelty and Rescue Cases

Cruelty Case 1

An RSPCA Inspector received a telephone call early afternoon on a Sunday late in 2002.

The caller advised that an injured dog had been found in a rubbish skip at Waurn Ponds near Geelong.

People walking past on the Sunday morning heard noises coming from a suitcase in the skip. The people took the suitcase out of the skip, opened it and found a badly injured dog.

The Inspector attended the site soon after receiving the call to recover the dog, a white heeler bitch with black markings without any collar or registration tags. He took photographs and observed that the dog had serious injuries to the head and back leg.

The badly injured dog was then taken to a Veterinary Clinic for assessment and treatment of injuries sustained.

The Veterinarian found that the dog had a suspected dislocated hip, two wounds on the top of the head and was missing two upper right incisors. The injuries were consistent with having been hit by a motor vehicle.
By chance, as it had no collar, a scan of the dog showed that the dog was microchipped. The inspector was then able to ascertain full details of the owner. The Inspector contacted the owner who advised that the dog had been hit by a motor vehicle on Saturday afternoon and due to the extent of injuries, asked her partner to take the dog to the veterinary clinic "fearing the worst". She was advised that the dog had been taken to the local Veterinarian and been euthanased.

When the partner returned home he advised the owner that the Vet said the dog had a broken back, broken legs and brain damage and he had to have the dog euthanased. The partner also advised it had cost the owner $108.00.

Answering questions from the Inspector, the partner stated he could not locate the Vet Clinic in Waurn Ponds and believed the dog was dead, so to "spare the family any distress", decided to dump it and tell the owner it was dead.
The partner was charged under Section 9 (1) (i) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in that he had possession or custody of an injured animal and knowingly or negligently failed to provide appropriate attention and treatment to the animal.

The charges were proven in the Geelong Court early this year and the defendant was convicted and fined $1,000.00 with Court Costs of $55.00.
The dog recovered from the injuries sustained in the accident and the owner was delighted to have the family pet home after veterinary treatment. She paid all expenses for the dogs medical care.

Cruelty Case 2

In February 1998 an RSPCA Inspector attended a property at Nutfield in response to a complaint regarding cattle in poor condition. He found a number of cattle in a paddock with little to no feed. The cattle were in poor to very poor condition and there was no evidence of supplementary feed.

The owner was contacted and admitted that the cattle had not been drenched for a period of 18 months. He was advised to drench and increase feed to the cattle.

In March 1998 the Inspector re-attended the property and found that the cattle had worsened in condition. At this stage three cows were euthanased due to their extremely poor condition. There was still no evidence of supplementary feeding.

A further visit in April found four cattle that had been shot in the head, two of which were still alive. These were then destroyed by the Inspector. The owner admitted being present when they were shot but denied shooting them.

The owner pleaded guilty to four counts of failing to provide sufficient food to the animals and three counts of aggravated cruelty, resulting in the death of an animal. He was convicted on all charges and received an aggregate fine of $10,000.

Cruelty Case 3

In June 2001 an RSPCA Inspector attended a property in Colac in regard to the condition of a number of birds at the property. He found four live budgerigars and three dead budgerigars in a number of cages at the property. An aviary at the property contained 17 dead birds, including a rotting carcass in the only available water receptacle in the enclosure.

The owner of the birds was instructed to clean the cages and find homes for the birds as he was obviously unable to care for them. He was sent a Warning Letter with these directions. After numerous visits to the property, each time finding birds in filthy conditions and without water, the Inspector removed five budgerigars (one which was dead) and had a vet examine them. The vet found that the dead bird had died of weakness due to malnutrition, with the other birds also suffering malnutrition and dehydration.

The owner was charged with six offences of cruelty under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, including: Causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal; failing to provide proper and sufficient food to an animal; and aggravated cruelty, resulting in the death of an animal. All charges were proven and he was convicted, receiving an aggregate fine of $18,000 and ordered to pay RSPCA costs of $185.00. He was also received a banning order, under section 12, preventing him from having custody of any bird for 5 years.

Cruelty Case 4

In late June 2004 an RSPCA Inspector investigated a complaint of cruelty towards a cat. The complaint produced a plastic bag that contained the remains of a tortoiseshell cat.

A post mortem examination was conducted and the vet was of the opinion that the cat had sustained terrible injuries including multiple fractures to its head, neck and limbs. It was also noted that the cat was alive through the majority of the attack before succumbing to blood loss and the impacts of the blows.

The Inspector eventually located the alleged owner and perpetrator of the attack. During his interview, the owner admitted to hitting the cat repeatedly because the cat had meowed constantly for over half an hour.

The owner said he had "blacked out" and couldn't remember the details of what had occurred but did remember that the put the cat in a plastic bag in the rubbish bin. The owner went on to say "It doesn't bother me. I don't care what I have done." Late admitting that he had done this to another cat before and said, "I just won't get another cat".

This case was heard in the Ringwood Magistrate's Court in February 2005 where the owner was found guilty of three charges, banned from owning any animal for five years, sentenced to six months prison and ordered to pay $894 in costs to the RSPCA.

Rescue Case 1

On the morning of 14 June, 2007 at 8.15am our inspectorate team received a call from workers at a site where a 10 week old little black and white kitten had its head stuck in a drainage hole of a large steel bin.  The workers had attempted to push the kitten through, pull the kitten out, and had covered the poor little kitten in detergent in an attempt to lubricate her enough to be pulled out.  Unfortunately they had failed in their attempts to dislodge the kitten from the hole themselves.

Inspector Coulter attended the site and was also unable to dislodge the kitten. Inspector Coulter called the Oakleigh Metropolitan Fire Brigade who attended with two fire and rescue trucks fully manned, and STILL the kitten could not be dislodged.

Senior Inspector Weston then attended with RSPCA veterinarian James who sedated the already exhausted kitten. Still they could not remove the kitten from the hole as they feared that their attempts to free the kitten may break her tiny neck.

The Fire Brigade team were then able to use some of their heavy rescue equipment to cut away some of the steel bin.  This was enough for us to remove the kitten and quickly transport her to back to the RSPCA veterinary clinic. The inspectors and vet left the scene at approx. 11:00am.

The kitten was found to be suffering severe shock, and was quickly warmed and placed on a drip. After her 3 degree night stuck in her predicament, and her drenching in detergent and oil, she then enjoyed a big feed and a sponge bath. We believe the kitten is a stray as she has no identification and is not de-sexed.  But as you can see she is now doing much better.

Rescue Case 2

About 9.30pm on Saturday night, January 13, RSPCA Inspector Natalie Linney received a call to say a calf or cow was stuck in mud in a paddock in Berwick.

When Inspector Linney arrived at the property, she located the animal and discovered that it was a cow and she needed assistance to get the cow out of the mud. She contacted the SES who arrived about midnight. There was no house on the property and as Inspector Linney said, “It was pitch black darkness.”

After fixing a harness to the cow, she was winched out of the mud and spent about five minutes on the ground resting before standing. Even on the ground she began to eat some grass, as she was obviously very hungry. The time was now about 1.30am Sunday morning.

Inspector Linney checked the cow and found that she was OK, except for being very muddy.
Once on her feet, she walked over and began grazing.

Inspector Linney went back on Sunday afternoon to check on the welfare of the cow and noted that she was still very muddy, but her teats were clean, only to realise that she had a calf who was by her side.

A very happy ending to the rescue.

The RSPCA acknowledges the support of the SES in this rescue.
 

Rescue Case 3

On 31 January, 2007 at approx. 10.30am Inspector Hambridge & Inspector Hughes arrived at a residence in Chirnside Park to assist them with their horse which was stuck in the creek that runs through the40 acre property.

The broodmare was stuck in the muddy creek and was exhausted. The residents and a neighbour had being trying to free her.  The neighbour was already in the mud trying to put carpet underneath the mares legs to give her purchase to haul herself up which was a good idea to start with. The Mare is a standard bred broodmare called "Bonnie".  After trying this approach but it became evident that the mare was too tired.

Both inspectors organised for the neighbour to cut down the shrubbery on the embankment in this area with his chainsaw so they could get  the caretaker of the horse, to get his tractor to lift the horse out.  After they freed Bonnie's offside foreleg which was pinned under a branch in the creek, they went ahead and organised the sling to be placed under the horses belly in the creek.

Our inspectors and the neighbour placed the sling under the horse and Inspector Hughes organised the ropes from the embankment.  The resident and caretaker of the horse was asked to use his tractor and after some adjustments to get the horse rescued without injury to either human or horse they eventually pulled Bonnie out.

Bonnie lay on the ground quietly in the paddock whilst they took the equipment off her, exhausted from her ordeal. Bonnie sat up after about 10 mins and after a few attempts to stand, she got up albeit shakily. Inspector Hughes led her to her foal to which the foal suckled straight away and then he led her to a yard so her caretaker could feed her.

Inspector Hughes advised the caretaker to call out their vet to give Bonnie a good check over and then to get her cleaned up of all of the murky creek mud.

Rescue Case 4

In February 2005 an inspector received a call regarding a cockatoo that had been sitting in a tree in the same spot for five days and was now hanging upside down. Due to the height of the bird's position the inspector requested assistance from the Country Fire Authority and a unit for Warrandyte was promptly dispatched.

Upon examination it was clear that the cockatoo had tangled some hay bale around its leg which had got caught on the high branch. Five days of the cockatoo attempting to release itself had resulted in the leg being completely stripped of flesh, exposing the bare bones of the leg. The bird was exhausted, dehydrated and starving.

Seven hours, over 20 people and one front fence later, the cockatoo was released from its stringy entanglement and quickly transported back to the RSPCA's veterinary clinic where it was assessed. Consultations between the RSPCA and specialist bird veterinarians led to the decision to amputate the injured leg. After a lengthy recovery at the RSPCA, the bird was sent to a wildlife carer where he continues to be rehabilitated with the view to release back into the wild.

If you would like to contact the RSPCA to register a cruelty complaint please call:  (03) 9224 2222

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