MEDIA RELEASE 3 FEBRUARY 2012

Justice for Cassie the miracle dog

A Great Barrier Island man pleaded guilty yesterday in the Auckland District Court for neglecting two dogs to such a degree that the SPCA Auckland Inspector who found them estimates the dogs were just days from death.

Cassie, before and after SPCA intervention

One of the dogs – now named ‘Cassie’ – has made a miracle recovery and is about to be put up for adoption by SPCA Auckland. The other dog was sadly too damaged to recover and eventually had to be put down.

Ricky Hauraki Llewellyn Griffiths, 28, builder, pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to provide proper and sufficient food to the two dogs. Judge Frazer sentenced him to eight years of disqualification from owning dogs, reparations of $1876.36, and 100 hours of community work.

SPCA Auckland Chief Inspector Vicki Border says it’s a pretty good result – particularly the eight-year dog-owning ban – but the dogs have already paid a far higher price.

“The state of the dogs when they were rescued by SPCA Auckland was horrific – one of the worst cases of neglect I have seen in all my years as an inspector,” says Border.

“One of the dogs, who we have called ‘Cassie’, has made a wonderful recovery over the last few months and is about to be put up for adoption late next week.”

The story began in mid-October 2011 when two emaciated dogs were discovered on Great Barrier Island following a tip-off from the public. Both dogs were found in the bush, chained to dilapidated kennels and surrounded by faeces. Border estimates the dogs had been without food for weeks and were just days from death.

“Someone had just tied them up and left them to die,” she says. “They were immediately removed to the SPCA Auckland Animal Village for emergency medical treatment.”

It was touch and go for the first few days. Often in cases this serious the animals don’t survive because too much damage has already been done. One of the dogs didn’t make it, but Cassie did.

“After just 21 days in SPCA Auckland care, Cassie was like a different dog,” says Border. “She is now well on her way to being the happy and healthy dog she deserves to be. We’re putting her up for adoption late next week and we’re confident she’ll find a loving forever home.

People interested in adopting Cassie must fill out an SPCA Auckland dog adoption form, which can be downloaded here: http://www.spca.org.nz/files/documents/Dog_Adoption_Application.pdf. Although Cassie will not be available for general public viewing at the SPCA Auckland Animal Village, people who want to adopt her can fill out the form and a viewing can then be arranged.

Cassie is a very laid back, two-year-old, pointer-cross dog who loves people and is good with kids.

“I would describe her as extremely affectionate and trusting, which is amazing considering what she’s been through,” says Border.

“She loves being with people – wherever you are, she’ll be happy to be there too. She will be good in a family situation and clearly has lived with kids before, so all ages of kids would be OK. Because she’s a young, relatively big dog, she’ll need a decent walk every day. If you’ve already got dogs, that’s OK – she’s great with other dogs, big and small.”

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