A Victorian couple have been banned from proudly owning cats or kittens for a decade and ordered to repay the greater than $140,000 it cost the RSPCA to research and prosecute them for animal cruelty.
Kon and Liudmila Petropoulos have been caught promoting kittens from their automotive boot after they’d already been banned from promoting home animals.
It’s unlawful for animals in Victoria to be offered in public locations.
On prime of that the cats and kittens they have been promoting have been fairly sick.
Nine kittens have been seized from the couple as a result of they weren’t being cared for and handled correctly.
The pair was beforehand sentenced in Melbourne Magistrates Court to fines and prices of greater than $120,000, however they challenged that and got a harsher penalty by County Court Judge Anne Hassan on Friday.
Judge Hassan stated the actual fact they appealed an awesome prosecution case with out contesting plenty of the proof indicated a whole lack of contrition and regret for his or her offending.
Kon Petropolous was ordered to pay a $27,000 fantastic whereas Liudmila was individually fined $25,000.
Each was additionally ordered to finish 200 hours of unpaid neighborhood work and endure supervision, together with monitoring.
The Ballarat couple have been banned from breeding, rearing, shopping for or promoting cats or kittens, in addition to proudly owning cats or kittens, for a decade.
They should additionally give up any they at present have inside 14 days.
RSPCA chief inspector Michael Stagg stated it was a fantastic consequence.
“When members of the public buy animals in public places, what it means is they’re not able to inspect the conditions that those animals have been bred or kept in and they’re not able to see whether or not there’s any cruelty occurring,” he advised AAP.
“That’s what this couple have been caught doing on a number of occasions.”
They have been additionally each ordered to pay $144,287 to cowl the prices of the prosecution.
Kon Petropoulos challenged the quantity, saying he and his spouse had spent $55,000 on a barrister defending their case.
“I would say that is maybe a benchmark or a closer amount to what it should be or what it costs,” he stated.
But Mr Stagg stated it’s essential the inspectorate can recoup prices, largely paid for by public donations.
Last monetary yr simply $2.3 million of the $9 million it cost to run the inspectorate got here from authorities funds, with the rest lined by public donations and bequests in wills.
Source: AAP
