Horse Owner Gets $4,000 Fine for Abused Horse

http://www.dailymercury.com.au/story/2010/03/29/horse-owner-fined-4000-for-neglect/

ARRGHHH. Not happy with this at all. I'm so mad I'm shaking right now.

DANNY Kearns let his horse’s health get so bad that its leg bone was protruding through its hoof.

It also had untreated skin cancers, melanomas and a broken tooth.

The animal was in such a severe condition that it was euthanized almost immediately after being seized by an RSPCA officer last October.

A vet deemed the aged grey horse would have been in constant pain and it was therefore too cruel to allow it to live.

Kearns, 63, pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching his duty of care to the horse under the Animal Care and Protection Act at Mackay Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Paddy Cullinane, for the RSPCA, said an officer responded to a call about the horse, which was located in a paddock on Glenella-Richmond Road, on October 26, 2009.

He said Kearns told the officer he had first noticed the horse had problems with its hooves about 10 years earlier.

TEN YEARS??? Jab a nail into your foot and then walk around on it for ten years until it gets so bad the bone is exposed. Then maybe, just maybe, you'll know how the poor horse feels.

On October 28 the RSPCA officer returned with a vet who advised that the horse had several melanomas and skin cancers, a broken tooth and an extremely painful condition known as laminitis that had caused the hoof wall to separate from the hoof and the leg bone to protrude through the sole of the hoof.

“It was the vet’s opinion that the horse was in constant pain.”

Nickie King, of Legal Aid Queensland, said Kearns had visited and fed the horse every day.

“He noticed that the horse had trouble getting up,” Ms King said.

HOW? How can you go out there and feed that horse every day knowing that he's in excruciating pain?

“He certainly accepts he should have taken some steps to get veterinary treatment for his horse.

“Unfortunately he admits it wasn’t something he prioritised.”

Magistrate Ross Risson said Kearns should have taken steps to get treatment for the animal.

Clearly. Okay, if you don't want to get treatment for the animal, there's this wonderful invention called euthanasia. It's a lot better than just letting him suffer day in and day out because you're too lazy to foot the bill.

Kearns was convicted and fined $4000 and ordered to pay $73.80 in court costs. He was given the option to complete 240 hours’ community service in lieu of payment.