Tracy Irene Baker pleads guilty to animal neglect at Findon

A police officer was brought to tears by the skeletal state of a dying staffy after its owner prioritised buying a pack of cigarettes a day instead of food for her starving dog.

Mustering all the strength left in its lifeless body, a horrendously malnourished staffy wagged its tail when he finally saw a friendly face after weeks of neglect.

A police officer attending the Findon house he was kept, brought to tears by the visceral image of the dog’s condition, can be heard in video played to a court saying “it’s okay, it’s okay … look at you still wagging your tail, aren’t you beautiful”.

Tragically, those were some of the last words that tan and white staffy, Harvey, would hear as he was shortly later taken to a nearby vet and euthanised because the emaciation of his muscleless body was beyond repair, a court has heard.

An application by The Advertiser to view the photos of the dog’s condition and the body worn camera was denied by the South Australian courts because they were deemed too sensitive and distressing.

On Tuesday, Findon woman Tracy Irene Baker, 49, faced the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court where her counsel asked the court if the penalty she would inevitably receive for ill-treating Harvey to the point of causing him serious harm could be served from her home.

A stock image of a tan and white staffy.

A stock image of a cigarette packet.

RSPCA prosecutor Simon Perrie told Magistrate Jayanthi Pandya that Harvey was so poorly treated there was no fat on his bones, he was continually groaning in pain, he was covered in ants, fleas and other insects, and he weighed 14.9 kilograms.

“The RSPCA head vet examined the body … he stated, in reality, it’s one of the worst cases of body wastage he had seen in 13 years with the RSPCA,” he said.

Mr Perrie told the court Baker, who pleaded guilty to the neglect in May, had told police she could not afford to feed him, but had been buying a packet of cigarettes a day.

“Every member of the community would expect (Harvey’s) life is worth more than a packet of cigarettes,” he said.

“He had a slow, painful and terrible demise which was unconscionable.”

The court heard the RSPCA had made attempts to check on Harvey’s welfare on December 12 and 14, 2020, after concerns from the public, but it was a call to police on December 15 that resulted in the heartbreaking reality.

Harvey was found on tattered blankets, the court heard, with his weight so low he almost tumbled out as he was picked up because his head was heavier than the rest of his body.

The court heard Baker had been responsible for Harvey for three months after he was left with her by her daughter.

When she entered her guilty plea in May, Baker ran from the court before she was arrested by police and taken into custody.

In another horrible twist, the court heard the dog had just three years earlier been adopted from the RSPCA’s Lonsdale shelter by the Baker family.

It is not suggested other family members are responsible for the neglect.

Aaron Fornarino, for Baker, told the court the distressing details of the neglect were conceded, but said his client’s life had been plagued by misfortune and devastation.

He said she was the victim in a domestically abusive relationship where she was “used as a punching bag” for 20 years.

He told the court the relationship culminated in her partner setting fire to their house and scorching another dog that was left inside.

It was that trauma, Mr Fornarino told the court, that contributed to Baker “not feeling comfortable” having Harvey at her home.

Ms Pandya remanded Baker in custody, where she had been for 58 days, as the court awaited a home detention report.

Baker will be sentenced later this month.