Tracy Irene Baker sentenced to prison for animal ill treatment

A western suburbs woman has been delivered one of the most significant sentences for animal ill treating and leaving her dog without food for days on end before he died.

It is difficult to comprehend how a woman did not feed her dog for five days at a time, leaving him unable to move through starvation, according to a magistrate.

Tracy Irene Baker’s ill treatment of staffy cross Harvey was described by Magistrate Jayanthi Pandya as overwhelmingly emotional and worrying when sentencing her to two months and two weeks’ prison.

It was one of the most significant custodial sentences handed down in South Australian courts in an animal ill treatment matter, and was so serious, said Ms Pandya, it warranted nothing less than actual time behind bars.

Baker had none of her sentence suspended, and was deemed unfit to serve any of it on home detention.

“Harvey’s condition did not occur overnight,” Ms Pandya said.

Stock image of a dog. The courts ruled photos of Harvey were too distressing to be viewed by the public.

“It was a result of prolonged periods of starvation – a prolonged period where you cruelly left him outside and allowed him to deteriorate knowing that his condition was declining to the stage that he could no longer stand up.

“In time (he was unable to) move at all from the position where he was lying down.”

Baker, 49, of Findon, pleaded guilty to the ill treatment of Harvey for 22 days between November and December last year.

She cried throughout Ms Pandya’s sentencing, repeatedly having to be told to keep her emotions in check.

The court was previously played a video of police attending the property and discovering the harrowing condition Harvey was in.

The video showed Harvey wagging his tail upon seeing the friendly face of a police officer, who would end up being one of the last faces he saw before being euthanised a short time later.

The court heard the decision to euthanise Harvey had come as a result of his body condition being described by a vet as “disastrous” and among the worst the RSPCA had seen in 13 years.

When he was delivered to an emergency vet in the evening of December 15 last year he was covered in ants, fleas and other insects, and was unable to stand, could only briefly lift his head, and was continually groaning.

The court previously heard Baker had chosen to buy a packet of cigarettes a day instead of buying food to feed the dog.

Baker, the court heard, was previously a victim of serious domestic violence, had recently lost her father, and her young grandchild was afflicted with a terminal illness.

Ms Pandya said her circumstances required some level of mercy.

But, she said, letters submitted to the court by Baker indicated little “understanding or reflection as to the seriousness of (her) actions” and were lacking in remorse.

Baker had been in prison for 73 days after being arrested on a warrant shortly after fleeing the court on the charges.

As a result, she was due to be released imminently.

Ms Pandya also barred her from ever owning another animal until further ordered.