Photo: Stock image of puppies, as the actual photos from this case were too distressing to publish
The urgent necessity to regulate animal rescue organisations was underscored today with the conclusion of a severe neglect case involving numerous animals. The animals were under the guardianship of a 41-year-old woman affiliated as the treasurer with Not the End of the Road Animal Rescue. The organisation, listed on the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission (ACNC) and Register of Incorporated Associations of Consumer and Business Affairs, lists itself as an advocacy group for animal welfare.
A South Australian non-profit, it aims at caring for, rehabilitating and rehoming sick or injured native animals and birds. The organisation also collaborates with other rescue organisations and an extensive private network. Through alternative and holistic methods, they claim to have had major success with ailments such as Pscittacine Beak and Feather Circovirus (pbfd), poisoning, gunshot wounds and significant feather plucking issues, which conventional medication often fails to control.
However, infractions of the SA’s Animal Welfare Act led to twenty charges against the woman associated with the ill-treatment of 57 animals. These included two puppies, 17 cats, two rabbits, one lizard, three possums, one duck and 31 birds. After the RSPCA SA inspector visited the woman’s home to probe a cruelty report in July 2021, concerns for animal welfare heightened due to observation of poor living conditions. The authorities revisited the property in August 2021, entering a house filled with ammonia fumes, squalor, heaps of rubbish, and animals in distress.
Animals were found in appalling conditions. The inspectors identified two puppies, 17 cats, two rabbits, one lizard, three possums, one duck and 30 birds who were in desperate need of help. The woman agreed to surrender most of the seized animals.
Upon subsequent visits to the premises, efforts to further convince the woman to surrender more animals were futile. A forfeiture order was therefore taken to the courts, allowing assessment of suitability for rehoming of the remainder of animals. The majority of these were then adopted or moved to reputable wildlife organisations.
At the Elizabeth Magistrates Court today, the woman received a prison term of four months and two weeks, reduced to three months and four days due to her guilty plea. The sentence is suspended for good behaviour over 18 months, and there is a strict prohibition on owning any animals except two pet dogs. The case served a stark reminder of the limitations of current regulations with animal rescue organisations and charity groups.
The case has thrown light upon the need for better regulation for animals rescues. RSPCA SA is advocating for mandatory compliance with specific standards of care, including an approved Capacity to Care, restricting the number of animals any registered shelter can shelter.
RSPCA SA Acting Chief Inspector Emma Shepley asserts, “anyone can set themselves up as an animal rescue organisation and take donations, with no safeguard to ensure proper care for the animals or the right expenditure of funds.”
RSPCA South Australia is the state’s only animal welfare charity, empowered to prosecute animal cruelty under the SA’s Animal Welfare Act. RSPCA’s 24-hour cruelty report hotline, 1300 477 722, is open for public reporting.
