First Offender Case Study – Aggravated Cruelty To An Animal

First Offence Legal recently represented a client who was charged with an offence of commit an act of aggravated cruelty to an animal. The client was 38-year-old man who had no criminal convictions on his record. He had never appeared before the courts before. Fortunately for our client, we were able to convince the Court that a conviction would not be appropriate in this case.

The Facts

Following a complaint, an inspector from the RSPCA attended a property belonging to our client. While there, they found two dogs which they determined were in urgent need of medical attention. The inspectors saw that one of the dogs (a male) had a large ulcerated tumour on its genitals with blood and exudate seeping from the wound and was emaciated with its spine and ribs protruding. The dogs were taken to a veterinarian where assessments were made.

The veterinarian determined that the tumour was a Squamous Cell Carcinoma, which is a slow growing and invasive skin cancer. An opinion of an expert determined that the dog had not been provided veterinary treatment for a minimum period of 12 weeks. If a Squamous Cell Carcinoma is diagnosed, then it is generally required that aggressive surgical excision of the tumour take place. The proliferation of the tumour was said to have also led to the emaciation of the dog.

The Inspector conducted an interview with the client where the client made admissions to the effect that he has been the owner of both dogs for 14 years and was in charge of getting them vet treatment, that he had not followed the instructions of giving the male dog pain relief and treatment for the infection as he didn’t want to ‘pump the dog with chemicals’, that the vet previously had recommended that the male dog be euthanised, that he instead took the dog home as he wanted to ‘prolong’ the dog’s life, and that he washed the tumour, applied natural remedies to the tumour and continued to walk the dog.

The Progression Of The Matter

The client was initially charged with four other offences of fail to provide vet treatment in regards to illnesses to both dogs. However, through the use of representations to the RSPCA, we were able to convince the RSPCA to withdraw the other four charges. However, the client entered a plea of guilty to the aggravated animal cruelty offence on the basis that it was cruel to keep the male dog alive.

The matter was set down for sentence in the Local Court, where the Magistrate convicted the client and directed him to enter into a Community Correction Order for a period of 15 months. However, we felt that this was a case where it was within the Court’s discretion to impose a Conditional Release Order without proceeding to a conviction. On this basis, we filed a severity appeal in the District Court of NSW to have a Judge consider the matter.

The Result

In the District Court, the submissions of our experienced advocate, Mr Michael Bennett, made focused on the large range of actions that an aggravated animal cruelty offence could cover, from intentional and malicious harm to an animal, to those who are negligent towards the proper care of an animal. The submissions made clear that the client was someone who loved his dogs too much. He was not a man intentionally inflicting pain upon his dogs, and it was on this basis that the Judge accepted that this offending was in the low range of objective seriousness for an offence of this nature. On this basis and also considering the client’s lack of criminal history and that he was very unlikely to reoffend, the Judge thought it appropriate to impose a Conditional Release Order without conviction for a period of 6 months.

If you or anyone you know has been charged with an offence involving animal cruelty, you should contact one of our skilled lawyers and make First Offence Legal your first defence!