Horse trader's appeal against mistreatment sentence fails

By CATHERINE MASTERS

Animal welfare campaigners in Northland have finally chalked up a victory in their legal battle against a horse trader convicted of mistreating his animals.

Mangamuka man George Albert has had his Court of Appeal case against a conviction for starving and maltreating horses thrown out.

Albert was convicted in March and fined $8000 for wilfully ill-treating a stallion and $5000 for ill-treating a further 12 horses on a property near Kaitaia.

He was also banned from having custody of a horse for 18 months, but objected that his sentence was manifestly excessive.

Court of Appeal Judge Sir Kenneth James Keith thought differently and upheld the sentence.

"This was a serious case of mistreatment of a number of animals over a period of time by a person whose experience with horses meant, in the words of the sentencing judge, he ought to have known better," said Sir Kenneth.

"Given the significant increases in maximum sentences available for offences against animals under the Animal Welfare Act, the fines imposed cannot be said to be manifestly excessive."

Redman, the stallion, was severely emaciated and had been living in boggy ground. He was assessed as having a zero rating, the worst on a body condition scale for horses.

Other horses were identified as below acceptable condition and were either emaciated or bordering on emaciation.

The ground was waterlogged with exposed wires strewn about and there was inadequate grazing.

During the original sentencing in the District Court, the judge had accepted that the offences occurred during a hard and wet winter but said Albert's conduct in managing the difficulties left much to be desired.

Although it was not premeditated starvation and cruelty, a regime of negligence had gone on for a longtime.

Albert's case caused huge problems for the SPCA because although they won after spending more than $10,000 prosecuting the case, Albert qualified to get his appeal heard on legalaid.

The SPCA was going to have to pay to defend the sentence in the Appeal Court itself until the Crown stepped in and supplied a lawyer.

Gail Boyd from the Bay of Islands SPCA told the Weekend Herald she and her inspector husband, Jim, were thrilled with the outcome but perplexed that other animal cases were not taken more seriously by the courts.

"At the end of the day we're a little concerned ... What is it that someone has to do with regards to animal abuse to get a higher penalty?"

In November they scored a major victory in obtaining the first conviction in New Zealand on professional dog-fighting charges.

Melissa Berryman and Johnson Murphy were sentenced to community work, forfeiture of eight dogs, a three-year ban on owning animals and $1000 costs each.

Under the Animal Welfare Act, penalties for this type of offence range up to six months' jail and/or a fine of up to $25,000.

The SPCA inspectors had found blood in a dog-fighting pit, in flooring and a trailer. The dogs were scarred and one had a rotten jawbone.

Then there was the case in Moerewa of Maverick, an 11-year-old cat snared in a noose and bashed with a softball bat.

The family pet was left brain damaged with an eye hanging from its socket.

Thrown into wasteland and left for dead, Maverick was rescued by the SPCA and against the odds survived.

The man who attacked him was the family's neighbour, Robert Arthur Cherrington, 65, who was convicted of wilful ill-treatment and ordered to pay $447 in veterinary costs and $86 inspector's mileage expenses.

Mrs Boyd says she was "staggered" by the leniency of this sentence.

She said Cherrington "broke a kid's softball bat on its head, smashed this cat's head so it's brain ... The inflammation was horrendous".

"This poor cat, he couldn't stand or walk or eat for 10 days. He was in the clinic for 10 days."