9 September 2014

9 September 2014

A 38 year old man from Beechboro, who left his sick cat, 'Climate' to die in a gutter, pleaded guilty for failing to take the cat to a vet for treatment.

Climate was found by a neighbour who urgently took him to a nearby vet clinic.

Climate was found to be severely emaciated and dehydrated and had pus oozing from his eyes and nose. Climate was unable to stand during the veterinary examination and subsequently began to have seizures. A decision was made to euthanize Climate on humane grounds. A post mortem confirmed the cat was suffering from other medical conditions including chronic respiratory infection.

In an interview, the accused stated that the cat had gone missing for three days and returned home with blood coming out of his mouth. As the cat was "virtually dead anyway" he left the cat to "go its own way".

Chief Inspector Amanda Swift has urged pet owners to not take lightly the responsibility of pet ownership.

"If your animal is sick you can't just ignore it. You are responsible to take steps to ensure an animal in your care receives appropriate veterinary care when required.

"This animal had conditions which were untreated and in the end Climate suffered terribly. Annual vaccinations and regular vet visits are an essential part of responsible pet ownership which in this case would have alleviated the cat's suffering" said Ms Swift.

The Magistrate imposed on the man 40 hours of community service and a prohibition from owning or having contact with any animal for 10 years and a spent conviction.

RSPCA once again thanks the public for their continued support in reporting incidents of animal cruelty and neglect.