SPCA has prosecuted an Auckland woman for failing to provide for animals in her care, leading to infections, scabs, trauma, and painful wounds for birds who were being plucked and decorated with colour pens.

The offender pleaded guilty and in sentencing a disqualification order was imposed, prohibiting her from keeping animals for five years.

“I’m grateful to the member of public who alerted SPCA to this situation. His concerns were legitimate, and his actions helped deliver better outcomes for everyone involved,” says SPCA CEO Todd Westwood.

In May 2023, SPCA was notified that a puppy and pigeons were being kept in a cage together. The member of the public was concerned that the pigeons were being crushed by the puppy, were injured, and bleeding.

SPCA Inspectors executed a search warrant and found one puppy, two kittens, ten doves, one pigeon and a deceased dove inside the property.

The puppy was in a small cage typically used for rodents, the kittens were free roaming, and the birds were kept in three cages. The cages containing the birds were dirty with old food and faeces, and only one of the three cages had water. All the birds, except two, had feather loss and coloured markings on their feathers.

The offender said she had been looking after the animals for seven days for her friend, for whom she was unable to provide contact details. She said she gently plucked the feathers out of the doves to get out the live bugs that suck blood. The offender also told SPCA Inspectors that she had used a normal coloured pen to colour the doves because it is ‘beautiful’. She said the deceased dove was lying down and not moving much. She had placed it in a box to rest as it had no strength and couldn’t eat.

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SPCA recovered all the animals including the dead dove for veterinary examination which revealed the birds were in very poor condition showing symptoms of inadequate food. Some were in severe pain which appeared to be long-term, according to veterinarian assessment.

“Not everyone is set up to have companion animals and able to provide for their welfare needs. If anyone is struggling with their situation and needs help to manage the care of animals, SPCA encourages you to ask for help,” says Westwood.

The offender was also ordered to pay a reparation of $2,903.

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