$500 not enough

Auckland SPCA inspector Lori Davis with a crossbow that killed a cat. Photo / Doug Sherring

The SPCA is calling for stiffer sentences for animal abuse as the recession fuels a rise in cruelty.

This week a Manukau man escaped with a $500 fine after killing a cat with a crossbow, and a lawyer acting for the Auckland SPCA said the courts were not applying the Animal Welfare Act.

Barrister Joanne Wickliffe said that went against the wishes of MPs who voted for legislation allowing judges to impose a maximum penalty of three years in jail or a $50,000 fine for wilful ill-treatment of animals: "Parliament intended for there to be an increase in penalties but the courts have been slow to apply it," she said.

Wickliffe also called for a law change to allow heavier penalties and for animals to be considered victims by the courts. She said that a lot of people were challenged by the idea of viewing animals with the same amount of compassion as they did people.

The Auckland SPCA prosecuted 52 people in the 2007-08 financial year compared with 40 in the previous year.

At Manukau District Court on Monday, Judge Charles Blackie fined Peter James Cooksley $500 plus court costs of $130 and prosecution and veterinary costs of almost $900 for killing a cat with a crossbow last December.

The 48-year-old said he killed the cat because it ate chicken from his kitchen bench and sprayed urine on his stereo speaker.

Auckland SPCA general manager David Lloyd-Barker said he was "very disappointed" by the sentence and is concerned Judge Blackie declined the SPCA's request for the crossbow to be destroyed.

Wickliffe is preparing an appeal to the solicitor-general over the sentence.

SPCA national chief executive Robyn Kippenberger said she supported the move and would write to the Chief Justice to express her disappointment with the light sentence.

"$500 just doesn't cut it," she said. "If we're not sending a message that it's not okay, it's making a nonsense of the justice system."

Lloyd-Barker said tough economic times were responsible for an increase in animal abuse.

"Maybe people are taking their frustrations out on the animals."

He said one problem with prosecuting animal abuse cases is the lack of sentencing precedents under the 1999 Act.

"A lot of the cases we run are test cases. We're actually setting standards here."

He hoped there would be a tougher sentence handed out to Wayne Williams, who repeatedly beat his fiancee's fox terrier with a metal pole then strangled it to death last November.

Williams has pleaded guilty and Lloyd-Barker wants the 34-year-old to receive the maximum penalty when he is sentenced later this month.

Lloyd-Barker said prosecuting animal abusers was hugely expensive for the SPCA but had to be done.

"We have to bring these people in front of the courts."