Published on Newshub 15/02/2012
http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/mutilated-puppys-rescuer-convicted-2012021611
The SPCA was unable to prosecute the people who chopped the ears off a Tauranga puppy, but another man has been convicted of failing to take it to a vet after finding it.
Elijah Kingi, 27, was found guilty of failing to provide veterinary treatment to ease the dog’s pain and distress following a hearing in Tauranga District Court on Wednesday, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
The eight-week-old puppy, nicknamed Trooper, attracted nationwide attention when it was found at Gate Pa shops in November 2010, with the stubs of its mutilated ears raw and sore. Its ears had been cut off with a pair of scissors.
Kingi said he found Trooper and tried to care for it by wiping its ears with Savlon.
But he did not take it to a vet, despite there being two vet clinics within 700m of his home because he said he did not want to be accused of cutting the dog’s ears off.
Judge Thomas Ingram said Kingi had put his own interests ahead of the puppy’s welfare and sentenced him to 100 hours’ community work and ordered him to pay $250 towards the cost of the prosecution.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 12 months’ jail or a $50,000 fine.
Judge Ingram said he would have liked to have imposed a heavier fine, but Kingi could not afford that.
Last year the SPCA said it had established who chopped of Trooper’s ears but could not prosecute them because witnesses were too scared to give evidence.