A 29-year-old man from Parafield Gardens was convicted in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court today on two counts of ill-treatment of an animal under South Australia's Animal Welfare Act in relation to his dog, which was found suffering from a botched home castration.
The defendant pled guilty to allowing the (botched) castration of his dog by a farmer with no veterinary qualifications. The procedure – in which rubber bands were wound around the dog's scrotum – was performed without any anaesthetic, using a method normally applied to lambs.
The defendant also pled guilty to failing to obtain veterinary treatment for his dog, both after the painful procedure and in subsequent days, when the resulting wound became infected.
Responding to a cruelty report about the incident, RSPCA South Australia inspectors attended at the defendant's Parafield Gardens property on 9 April 2024 after obtaining a search warrant. The defendant was not home at the time.
The inspectors located the dog, an eight-year-old male Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Harley, in the backyard with another dog. Inside the house they located another two smaller dogs, two cats and a snake living in filthy conditions, with overflowing litter trays and faeces and urine throughout the house.
Due to concerns for Harley's condition, the inspectors seized him, leaving a seizure notice.
They also left an Animal Welfare Notice requiring the defendant to clean the living areas and to provide fresh, clean water daily for all the animals.
An RSPCA SA vet examined Harley at the organisation's O'Halloran Hill clinic and reported that the dog was suffering from an infected, necrotic, putrid-smelling open wound that appeared to be a post-castration wound.
At a court hearing on 17 March 2025, the defendant told the court (through his defence counsel) that Harley was injured after trying to jump a sharp metal fence. The defendant was inebriated at the time and allowed another individual present, a farmer, to place a rubber band around the dog's damaged testicles, a castration method used on lambs.
In her report to the court, the RSPCA SA vet stated that this act would have caused the dog considerable pain, as did the subsequent failure to get vet treatment for the dog when the wound became infected.
In the Elizabeth Magistrates Court today, Magistrate Lana Chester sentenced the defendant to a three-month and seven-day prison term, suspended on a 12-month good behaviour bond. He was ordered to pay a total of $5387 in veterinary, boarding and legal fees.
During sentencing the lawyer for the defendant explained that the other animals remaining in the home belonged to his partner who also resided there. Her Honour made three specific orders designed to protect the welfare of the animals remaining in the home that the RSPCA did not seize. These orders included that the animals be taken to a vet every three months for the next year, with veterinary reports provided to RSPCA SA after each visit. Finally, the Court ordered that the defendant is forbidden from acquiring any more animals until further order. Harley required extensive veterinary care to clean, drain and repair the wound and spent months living with RSPCA SA foster carers as he recovered from his ordeal.
The defendant agreed to surrender Harley to RSPCA SA at a court hearing on 18 December 2024. The dog was subsequently adopted by his then foster carer.
Harley when admitted to RSPCA SA - April 2024 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.
RSPCA South Australia is the state's only animal welfare charity with inspectors empowered to prosecute animal cruelty under SA's Animal Welfare Act.
Members of the public who witness animal cruelty or neglect are urged to immediately call RSPCA's 24-hour cruelty report hotline on 1300 477 722.
