A 53-year-old woman from Athol Park was sentenced yesterday in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to one count of animal ill-treatment under the SA Animal Welfare Act for abandoning seven puppies at the Port River.
The court was told that on March 30th 2024, a man was fishing on the Port River near Moonta Road in Port Adelaide when he discovered seven abandoned puppies. The witness contacted Police, who attended the scene shortly after. Officers entered the Port River in uniform to collect some of the puppies who had wandered into the water.
SAPOL obtained CCTV footage of the area where the puppies were abandoned, which showed a blue Great Wall utility vehicle leaving the area that had been highlighted as the suspects’ car by a witness. The CCTV was not clear enough to make out the vehicle’s license plate, but members of the community assisted when the matter was listed on SA Crimestoppers.
On May 7th 2024, the defendant attended the Port Adelaide Police Station and stated that her dog ‘Missy’ was the mother of the seven puppies and that she drove Missy and her puppies to the Port River on March 30th.
The accused claimed that after getting the puppies out of the car, she realised that Missy was missing and left the puppies to retrace her route home in search of the dog.
She eventually found Missy at her front door in Athol Park before returning to the Port River to collect the puppies, however, by that time they were gone. The defendant did not report the puppies as missing to either SAPOL or RSPCA SA.
In the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court yesterday, Magistrate Briony Kennewell imposed a 12-month good behaviour bond, but the defendant did not receive a conviction for the offending given her lack of criminal antecedents.
The woman was allowed to retain three dogs on the basis that they are desexed and registered within 60 days and is prohibited from having custody of any additional dogs.
RSPCA SA was also awarded $3,000 in legal costs. The puppies were transferred to a third party for rehoming.
Under SA’s Animal Welfare Act, the maximum penalty for animal cruelty is $20,000 or two years’ imprisonment. For an aggravated cruelty offence, the maximum penalty is $50,000 or four years’ imprisonment.
Members of the public who witness animal cruelty or neglect are urged to make an online report at https://www.rspcasa.org.au/services/inspectorate/report-cruelty/. Or call RSPCA’s cruelty report hotline on 1300 477 722 (open 6:30am-6:30pm).
