A Papamoa builder who failed to seek veterinary treatment for his emaciated horse has been fined $1000.
Rick Quinlan, 30, was sentenced in the Tauranga District Court yesterday.
The Tauranga SPCA prosecution stems from a compliant the organisation received on March 18 about an emaciated horse in a paddock in Mountier Rd, Apata. When an animal welfare inspector visited the property on March 30 they found the horse also had a large infected wound on its left hind leg.
Urgent veterinary assistance was sought for the three-year-old gelding named Storm and the attending vet remarked that it was the "skinniest horse she had ever seen".
The horse was seized by the Tauranga SPCA inspector and although it was fed a special diet it developed colic and it had to be put down on April 10.
Tests revealed the horse had a damaged digestive tract due to parasites which greatly affected its ability to absorb nutrients from food and resulted in its malnutrition.
Quinlan claimed he had tried every type of food and regularly drenched all horses on the property but no speciality feed product or drenching product was found on the day of the inspection.
Checks by Tauranga SPCA established that a vet did treat the horse the previous October for the leg wound which should have healed if treated appropriately.
Rachael Adams, the lawyer representing Tauranga SPCA free of charge, told Judge Peter Rollo that it was accepted this was not a case of deliberate neglect.
"But it was a serious lapse in judgment by Mr Quinlan in failing in his serious obligations to take the necessary steps to get veterinary attention for this animal to remedy the situation."
Quinlan's lawyer Kaye Davies said her client had intended training the horse for polo.
Judge Rollo said he accepted it was an out-of-character lapse for Quinlan and also acknowledged he had significant involvement in equine sports in Turangi and Taupo. "As World Cup-winning captain Richie McCaw is fond of saying Mr Quinlan, you are only as good as your last game and on this occasion you definitely dropped the ball."
Judge Rollo fined Quinlan $1000 which he ordered him to pay to Tauranga SPCA as well as $389.10 costs towards the prosecution.
Tauranga SPCA inspector Jason Blair was satisfied by the fine and costs imposed and hoped the case would serve as a wake-up call to all animal owners that failing to provide appropriate care could lead to prosecution. "Clearly we cannot prosecute everyone and try to educate people in the first instance but this was a case which we felt we had to no choice but to prosecute to send a deterrent message not just to Mr Quinlan but the rest of the Tauranga community," he said.