Port Kennedy man fined and banned after leaving pet Labrador to suffer painful conditions

A Port Kennedy man has been fined $3500 and banned from owning animals for three years after failing to seek vet care for his 11-year-old Labrador.

The 51-year-old was sentenced in the Rockingham Magistrates Court last week after his dog named Alethea was found to have been suffering multiple painful conditions.

The court heard Alethea was picked up by City of Rockingham rangers as a stray and taken to Baldivis Vet Hospital in October last year.

RSPCA WA inspectors contacted her owner who claimed she must have escaped his backyard during a storm.

He declined to surrender Alethea to RSPCA WA saying he owned and was responsible for her and her skin condition had started three months earlier.

Alethea's entire body was covered in crusty lumps and open, weeping ulcerated lesions.

The inspector seized the dog due to suspected animal cruelty offences.

The offender said he realised the lumps were tumours and he had been treating them with Betadine.

He also said he noticed Alethea had been bloated on her side but she had not been to a vet for two years.

He explained he had not taken her to the vet about her lumps as she was old and there would be nothing the vet could do other than pain management. 

The inspector transported Alethea to RSPCA WA where a vet examination found she had a severe generalised skin disease covering the majority of her body, which was causing significant pain and discomfort.

She had mild ear infections, painful osteoarthritis and spinal arthritis, incurable and infected lymphoma, and concurrent pulmonary parenchymal changes and increased respiratory rate, which indicated that the cancer had metastasised. 

Alethea was provided with pain relief in an attempt to manage her chronic pain but was ultimately humanely euthanised as her quality of life was deemed unacceptable. 

In sentencing, Magistrate Steven Malley told the offender as an animal owner, his responsibility was “strict”. 

“[Alethea] wasn’t in great shape and can’t have been in great shape for some time,” he said. 

RSPCA WA Inspector Manager Kylie Green said it was important for pet owners to understand that animal cruelty isn’t just deliberate acts of violence but also, and more often, failure to address their needs.

“Alethea was in obvious pain with her skin condition and, as was revealed, in even more pain with cancer and arthritis,” she said.

“It was her owner’s responsibility to take care of her and in this instance that meant taking her to the vet and he failed her miserably.”  

The RSPCA relies on the community to report incidents of suspected cruelty and neglect.

Report cruelty 24/7 on 1300 CRUELTY (1300 278 358) or at rspcawa.org.au.