Howick man pleads guilty to severe neglect

When most New Zealanders were firing up the barby just after New Year’s 2011, an SPCA Volunteer Ambulance driver was making a grisly discovery in East Auckland.

It was the day after New Year’s 2011 when an SPCA Ambulance was called to a property in Howick to collect a dog to transport to a vet clinic. The animal’s owner, Mr Olmstead, 43, claimed to have only just noticed the dog’s condition.

The dog, an Airedale terrier, was found lying in the garden in the following condition:
• Coat extremely matted and dirty with faeces covering the anus and vulva.
• Both eyes were infected with conjunctivitis and full of pus.
• It was extremely weak and unable to walk and severely dehydrated.
• It suffered from a serious ear infection of the left ear and had a large, ruptured tumour beneath the right ear.
• The dog was obviously in great pain and discomfort.

The driver transported the dog to a veterinary clinic for an examination that confirmed these findings. The vet rang Mr Olmstead and advised that due to its condition and obvious suffering euthanasia was recommended. The Defendant gave consent over the phone.

“Clearly this dog had been severely neglected and in acute pain over a considerable period of time,” says Christine Kalin, CEO of SPCA Auckland. “For the owner to claim that he had only just noticed any of this is simply unbelievable. This was confirmed by the vet who felt it was impossible that Mr Olmstead could have ‘just discovered’ the overall condition of his animal.

“Any normal person would have realised that the dog was suffering and needed urgent veterinary treatment long before it got into this appalling state.”

In the Manukau District Court today Mr Olmstead pleaded guilty to ill-treatment of an animal and was sentenced to a $5000 fine, payable to the SPCA; and disqualified from owning animals for 12 months.

“The message here is simple: Animal owners cannot just stop caring for their pets and then casually expect the SPCA to turn a blind eye. People who inflict pain and suffering on vulnerable animals in their care will be held accountable,” says Ms Kalin.

ENDS

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