A Port Kennedy man has been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly failing to seek vet care for his Labrador who was suffering multiple painful conditions including cancer.
The 11-year-old dog was picked up as a stray and taken to Baldivis Vet Hospital in October last year.
The inspector contacted the dog’s owner who claimed she must have escaped his backyard during a storm.
He declined to surrender the yellow Lab to RSPCA WA, saying he owned and was responsible for her and her skin condition had started three months earlier.
The vet found the dog’s entire body was covered in crusty lumps and open, weeping ulcerated lesions.
The accused said he realised the lumps were tumours and he had been treating them with Betadine.
He also said he noticed the dog was bloated on her side but had not taken her to a vet in two years because she was old and there would be nothing the vet could do other than pain management.
An RSPCA inspector transported the dog to RSPCA WA where a vet examination determined she had a severe generalised skin disease covering the majority of her body, which was causing significant pain and discomfort.
She also had mild ear infections, painful osteoarthritis and spinal arthritis and incurable and infected lymphoma (cancer).
The dog was given pain relief in an attempt to manage her chronic pain but was ultimately humanely euthanised as her quality of life was deemed unacceptable.
The accused will face Rockingham Magistrates Court on February 10.
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