RSRSPCA Victoria is demanding owners step up their efforts to look after animals in their care after another case of preventable death was prosecuted in Seymour Magistrates' Court.
Upon attending a Trawool property in response to a cruelty report about a horse with an infected eye, an RSPCA Victoria Inspector immediately noticed a grey gelding with a very large, infected mass covering his whole left eye.
Due to the severity of the eye injury, the Inspector arranged for a local veterinarian from the Seymour Equine Clinic to attend the property after numerous attempts to contact the owner were unsuccessful.
The veterinarian noted the gelding had a large purulent haemorrhagic mass about the size of a golf ball that completely obscured his left eye and rendered him blind in that eye. Immediate pain relief was administered to the horse while further attempts were made to contact the owner.
Two days later, when the owner responded to contact requests, he advised he had been aware of the growth on the horse's eye but had not sought treatment for the animal as the horse had not appeared to be showing outward signs of discomfort.
The attending veterinarian advised the gelding would have been in substantial pain and discomfort, and that the advanced state of the growth meant a poor prognosis with little hope of recovery. Given this assessment, the owner arranged for the horse to be euthanised on humane grounds.
Following this, the accused provided a written statement confirming that the lesion had first developed over five years prior, but that he had not noticed any deterioration in the lesion or the condition of the horse during the ensuing years. He claimed that he had not seen the horse in the daylight for two to three weeks prior to RSPCA attendance, and that deterioration must have been extremely rapid.
RSPCA Victoria Inspectorate Team Leader Michelle Green said the horse would have suffered for an extended period of time, and that it was clear the accused made no attempts to seek veterinary care for the horse in the last few years.
"The veterinarian's analysis of the case showed the horse had experienced significant pain, and that the size, location, appearance and smell of the mass should have easily been identified by a lay person as requiring veterinary treatment, regardless of their experience in caring for horses.
"Claiming that an animal has not been sighted for a period of time is simply no excuse for neglect. Anyone who owns or is the person in charge of any animal, be it domestic or livestock, has a legal obligation to care for that animal, and regular monitoring of their health and condition is an integral part of that responsibility.
"Had veterinary care been sought months or years previously, we could have been looking at a very different outcome. The most frustrating part of these cases is that they are often wholly preventable," Inspector Green said.
The accused pleaded guilty to a single charge and was convicted under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1984 (POCTAA). He was fined $1000 and ordered to pay costs of $1,747.00. He was further disqualified for a period of one year from owning or being in charge of any horse.
RSPCA Victoria encourages anyone who can no longer care for their animals to seek help or support.
