SA court to sentence Glynne Sutcliffe for keeping 124 cats in appalling conditions in her backyard cat breeding farm

A FORMER academic who kept 124 cats in an “appalling” backyard breeding farm will be sentenced next month, following a four-year, $20,000 court battle with the RSPCA.

A FORMER academic who kept 124 cats in an “appalling” backyard breeding farm will be sentenced next month, following a four-year, $20,000 court battle with the RSPCA.

Glynne Sutcliffe, 75, of Chandler’s Hill, has been found guilty of multiple counts of ill-treating her animals by the Adelaide Magistrates Court.

The RSPCA on Monday asked the court to impose a severe penalty, saying people like Sutcliffe breed animals for “easy money” without giving them the most basic of living necessities.

Sutcliffe — who still has 20 cats in her possession — urged the court to reject those submissions, accusing the RSPCA of seeking to destroy her life and reputation.

“There has been a lot of smearing, a lot of omissions, a lot of hypocrisy ... much of what they have put reflects very badly on me,” she said.

“The RSPCA’s favourite word is ‘appalling’, it doesn’t have a specific factual content but does convey disgust and nuanced contempt.

“The language the RSPCA uses is carefully selected from a marketing manual ... it likes to attempt a position of moral superiority over the rest of the universe.”

Sutcliffe’s case began in late 2011, when RSPCA officers seized 96 adult cats and 28 kittens from her property — some were destroyed, others rehomed.

Since then, Sutcliffe has been fighting the charges at trial.

She has a prior conviction for ill-treating a red kelpie, Banjo, in the early 2000s.

On Monday, Ronan O’Brien, for the RSPCA, said the cats were living without adequate food or litter boxes, amongst their own waste and afflicted with disease.

“The conditions the defendant’s cats were living in were, quite simply, appalling,” he said.

“When combined with the overwhelming rate of disease and kitten mortality, it shows how dire the situation was.

“Despite the overwhelming evidence, the defendant has not shown any remorse.”

Mr O’Brien compared Sutcliffe’s offending to a puppy farm, saying the cats were not pets and her “sole purpose was to make money” by selling the animals for $400 each.

He asked the court permanently ban her from owning animals and order the remaining cats be immediately surrendered to the RSPCA.

He further asked Sutcliffe repay the $6830 spent caring for the cats and $9500 of the organisation’s $20,000 legal costs.

“The penalty needs to deter anyone who thinks breeding animals is an easy way to make money,” he said.

Sutcliffe said she should be allowed to sell the remaining cats, not be forced to hand them over to “destroyers”.

She said she had been “pretty much destitute” since her divorce and had lacked steady income since her days teaching Year 12 and lecturing at Flinders University.

“I have three children, they are all doctors, I do not speak to any of them as part of the general demonisation and smearing I’ve been subjected to,” she said.

Magistrate Paul Barnett will impose penalty next month.