Two Auckland women have been sentenced today, October 30, following the death of their dog due to starvation and hypothermia. Both were charged by SPCA with ill-treatment of an animal.

The pair were sentenced to respective periods of 150 and 200 hours of community work.

In July 2024, SPCA inspectors visited the defendants’ property following concerns about the welfare of dogs on site. Upon inspection, they found a white mixed-breed dog named Princess tethered to a fence, with only a table for shelter and an empty water bowl.

One of the women told inspectors that Princess hadn’t been eating properly for the past few weeks. Inspectors provided advice on how to improve Princess’s condition and returned the following day with a kennel and blankets.

When inspectors returned for a re-inspection days later, they discovered Princess dead in the same place. Beside her were two empty bowls and an accumulation of faeces. She was tethered on a 1.5m chain with inadequate shelter, and the kennel and blankets previously provided by SPCA lay out of reach behind her.

A veterinary examination revealed that Princess was extremely emaciated, and had no discernable body fat and an obvious loss of muscle mass, particularly around her face. She also suffered from pressure sores, fly bitten ears, and feacal staining around her hindquarters.

A post-mortem confirmed that Princess died from starvation and hypothermia, would have been in severe distress and pain beforehand, and should have received veterinary treatment.

One of the defendant’s claimed they had been away from the house “quite a lot” and had asked other members of the household to feed Princess, and that the dog “wasn’t too bad” two days before her death. When told the cause of death, the defendant said “she should have paid more attention”

“Princess’s last moments were undeserved and horrific,” says SPCA CEO, Todd Westwood.

“This case is a heartbreaking reminder of the consequences of neglect. Princess’s suffering was entirely preventable. We urge all pet owners to understand the responsibility they take on when they bring an animal into their lives.”

The pair were also disqualified from owning or exercising authority over a dog for a period of five years and ordered to make reparation payments of $452.71 each.

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