A pomeranian breeder has been prosecuted by the SPCA after failing to provide appropriate care for her dog’s injured leg, resulting in ongoing pain and deformity.
The woman was sentenced in Nelson District Court on Friday 28 April.
She was ordered to pay a fine of $300 to SPCA as well as $1001 in reparations towards veterinary costs.
Two-year old pomeranian Joy, who had recently had puppies, was taken for a veterinary examination by the breeder after it was requested from a prospective puppy purchaser.
The veterinarian found the lower leg had a healing fracture, which the defendant said had happened while jumping off a chair three weeks earlier.
Instead of seeking instant veterinary treatment, the woman applied a ‘toilet roll’ splint to Joy’s leg.
The veterinarian provided Joy pain relief and instructions to return for re-examination two weeks later.
The breeder did not return with Joy and a subsequent complaint was made to SPCA, which resulted in Joy being seized following a search warrant.
When interviewed, the defendant said that she thought Joy had sprained or badly bruised the bone and acknowledged that she would have been in pain.
Joy had three-week-old puppies at the time of the injury, so she had been kept in her crate with her puppies.
She admitted she had not sought veterinary treatment and had instead splinted Joy’s leg by putting a bandage and toilet roll firmly around it.
“Joy’s pain and incorrect healing of the joint was completely avoidable,” says SPCA interim chief executive Robyn Kiddle.
“She was found to have lameness and an abnormal gait – likely due to the pain she was in – and a deformity at the wrist where the bone had formed a callus.”
The defendant was ordered to pay $150 contribution to SPCA legal fees. The ownership of Joy was also forfeited to SPCA.
