Anne Power, pictured here in 2016, did not appear at her trial on Monday at the Whangārei District Court.
WARNING: This article discusses allegations of animal neglect and may be upsetting to some readers.
Animal welfare officers allegedly found more than 50 animals on Anne Power’s properties, some of which were neglected, including a llama with fly-bitten ears, a hobbling rooster and a sheep that was unable to stand.
The 81-year-old Northland woman was charged with eight offences under the Animal Welfare Act and accused of failing to meet the physical and behavioural needs of animals on two rural properties.
Her case went to a judge-alone trial in Whangārei on Monday, but Power failed to turn up and the judge proceeded without her.
The SPCA launched an investigation in 2022 after complaints about the animals. Search warrants were executed at Power’s properties at Tangihua Rd and Springs Rd in Northland.
Power lived at the Tangihua Rd property but kept several of her animals at her Springs Rd farm.
The court heard this week that welfare inspectors seized three alpacas, a llama, a ewe and a rooster from her properties, alleging serious health issues that underpin the charges.
The alpacas had allegedly not been shorn in at least two years and were suffering from dental and hoof problems, undernourishment and vitamin D deficiency. One required veterinary hospitalisation.
The rooster was reportedly in significant pain because of a foot abscess, while the ewe was allegedly found collapsed on her hind legs, unable to stand because of advanced foot rot.
Inspectors also uplifted 38 cats and 10 dogs. Ten of the cats were allegedly diagnosed with respiratory infections and one dog allegedly required dental surgery.
“It is this inadequate care of animals, your honour, why we are here today,” SPCA lawyer Brown told the Whangārei District Court on Monday in opening statements to Judge Peter Davey.
When charges were laid in December 2023, it began a lengthy court proceeding that has been delayed on several occasions.
At one hearing, Power claimed she could not hear and was having vision problems and then proceeded to file four consecutive applications to adjourn her trials.
She had two warrants to arrest issued and when bailiffs called on her house to serve her with documentation, she refused to accept service.
A medical certificate was filed last week claiming she was unfit to work because she had a sprained shoulder.
However, Judge Davey said that did not mean she was unfit to participate in her trial.
Last week, a hearing for an adjournment proceeded in her absence, where Judge Davey declined her application.
He noted in court on Monday that she still managed to appear at the front counter to find out the outcome.
Before the judge-alone trial started, a letter was filed to the court from a friend of Power’s named Leah Ruskin.
The letter said Power was in fragile physical and mental health and any appearance would be detrimental.
“I am not satisfied she has a reasonable excuse for not attending a hearing today. If she had a reason not to participate, she could have attended this morning and explained her circumstances to me,” Judge Davey said, before instructing the trial proceed in her absence.
SPCA inspector Cody Taylor investigated the Tangihua Rd property and gave evidence this week about his interactions with Power.
“Sometimes erratic in nature ... She’s difficult to talk to sometimes because she interrupts,” he said.
“On this occasion, she stated she didn’t own any of the animals that were owned by her partner John Beard.”
Taylor said she refused to open the door and a locksmith had to gain access, with Power spending the rest of the investigation dressed only in a dressing gown.
“We gave her the opportunity to go and get dressed and she didn’t want to. She spent the entire day with nothing else on underneath,” Taylor said.
Taylor said the house smelt like ammonia and faeces.
There were 27 cats at the address and Taylor said many of them were sneezing and he had lengthy discussions with her around parasite management.
“She felt as though she was being persecuted by the SPCA,” Taylor said.
Power also had eight dogs at her property, four more than she was legally allowed to have as part of a prior disqualification order.
Two were locked in a bathroom and Taylor said they were in extremely poor condition.
Another inspector gave evidence about her visit to the Springs Rd property noting the alpacas had overgrown hair and specifically noticed the condition of a llama.
“Llamas normally have banana-shaped ears and I was concerned about that one because I had suspected the ears had been chewed off around the outside due to fly strike so that llama did concern me,” the inspector said.
“It had long feet and it also appeared to have a skin condition on its face.”
The woman said she also witnessed a rooster “hopping and hobbling” as it had issues with its feet.
She also gave evidence that Power said the animals belonged to her ex-partner but the inspector said it was clear he was not living there.
A neighbour from Power’s Springs Rd property told the court the woman would come and go, leaving behind a large number of animals.
When she first moved in, the neighbour said Power brought dogs on to the property at night, making it difficult to know how many were in her care.
After living at the 24ha property for about four years, Power left, leaving behind roughly 42 dogs, 13 sheep, half a dozen highland cattle and four llamas.
“The place had a lot of animals on it and had a lot of the trees around the house and everything was just left to grow. The animals were just left,” the neighbour said.
She also said there were cats “any and everywhere”.
The woman said Power would come back every evening to feed and water the dogs, but they were never exercised, and the other animals were allegedly left together in the same paddock.
“The sheep and the rest of the animals were just left, there wasn’t any care. They were never moved out of the paddock; they were just in the same paddock the whole time. She was never there to look after them,” she said.
“The llamas would fight. The horrendous noise they would make when they would fight was just horrible.”
Judge Davey has reserved his decision, which will be released next week.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.