Woman banned from owning pets after mistreating dog

The woman was sentenced in the Auckland District Court. Photo / File

An Auckland woman who treated her dog so badly it had to be euthanised has been banned from owning pets for 10 years.

Ngai Wan Virginia Chan was sentenced in the Auckland District Court on Tuesday over the treatment of her 11-year-old dog, Jai Jai, who was found in a severely impaired state at Chan's Mt Roskill home by an SPCA inspector in December 2013.

The inspector found Jai Jai, a Bichon Frise, was suffering from severe eye and skin infections.

The court ruled that Chan ill-treated Jai Jai resulting in the left eye being very swollen, full of pus and almost completely sealed shut.

The right eye had thick discharge coming out, the cornea of his eye appeared cloudy and damaged, and both eyes where surrounded by thick, black crust.

Jai Jai was also suffering from some form of skin issue which had caused very odorous, oily secretions and fur loss over most of its body and would have been in severe discomfort for months prior to him being euthanised.

The court said any reasonable dog owner would have done more to care for Jai Jai, and the dog's condition would have been obvious even to an untrained person.

The Judge's said Chan's obvious neglect, failure to care and treat Jai Jai accordingly was reckless, the SPCA said.

Bob Kerridge, SPCA Auckland Executive Director, said the dog's condition was easily preventable.

"This is a very sad case of obvious animal neglect and the SPCA's view is that the dog owner should have acted before Jai Jai's health got to this dreadful state where, sadly, treatment was no longer an option for him."

Chan has been ordered to pay a fine of $3846.03 and received a 10 year disqualification order from owning pets.