Dogs kept in 'putrid' conditions

Auckland animal welfare officers yesterday said there was no excuse for the "appalling and putrid" conditions in which a farmer kept his five working dogs.

Allan Smurthwaite, a farmer and tiler, has been fined $1200 after pleading guilty in Pukekohe District Court to five charges of ill-treating an animal. The SPCA prosecuted Smurthwaite after a complaint from a member of the public.

Auckland inspectorate manager David Lloyd-Barker said an inspector found four blue heeler-type dogs and a huntaway kept "in the most disgusting conditions" last October.

One was locked in a car wreck and the four other dogs were in kennels locked inside a shed. It was obvious they had not been released on a daily basis. Only one had enough water.

He said the levels and stench of ammonia and faeces in the shed were so great that the inspector suffered burns to her throat and nose.

- NZPA