Name and shamed: Animal abuse cases in Hervey Bay, Maryborough, Gympie, Bundaberg

From a man who killed his neighbour’s cat to the former curator of an animal sanctuary’s sickening attack on a joey, here are the animal abuse and neglect cases that shocked the Fraser Coast, Bundaberg and Gympie regions. *Warning: Distressing content

Each year, dozens of animal cruelty and neglect cases go through courts in Queensland.

Some of those shocking cases are heard across the Wide Bay.

Here are 15 cases that shocked the region in recent years.

Convictions recorded

Mother and son banned from owning an animal for a decade

“Heartbreaking”. That was the word Maryborough magistrate John Smith used to describe the photos of a female puppy that was almost starved to death by its owners, mother and son Kathleen Maslen and Jeremy Hill in 2015.

The two appeared before Maryborough Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching a duty of care to an animal.

Maslen and Hill were both sentenced to three months in prison, wholly suspended for an operational period of three years, and banned from owning an animal for 10 years.

Severely malnourished, suffering a severe case of mange and a secondary infection, the female labrador-cross named Chaise was near death when her condition became known to the RSPCA.

Mr Smith described the accused‘s inaction in ensuring the health of the dog as “deplorable, inconsiderate, cruel and uncaring”.

“You both turned a blind eye,” he said.

In addition to the custodial sentence, Hill and Maslen were each fined $2699.40.

Hervey Bay cat killer sent to jail

One of Queensland‘s chief animal rights advocates applauded a judge for sending a Hervey Bay cat killer to jail.

Timmy Patrick Sawyer, 26, served three months behind bars for holding his neighbour‘s cat by the tail and repeatedly thrashing it against the road.

“This is actually a first when it comes to serious animal cruelty, in regards to that he will spend some time in jail,” RSPCA Queensland spokesman Michael Beatty said.

“We commend the judge for taking it seriously, it is encouraging.

“Three months might not sound like a lot, but it is a step forward.”

Sawyer appeared before Judge John Robertson in Hervey Bay District Court.

The Urangan man was also banned from owning an animal for two years.

GRAPHIC: Woman fined, banned from owning animals for life

A man and woman have both received hefty penalties after they and their animals lived in what a magistrate described as “appalling squalor”.

Chloe Beverly Candy and Alejandro Recio pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court to three counts each of failing to provide appropriate accommodation or living conditions.

Lawyer prosecuting for the RSPCA, Nicole McEldowney told the court the offences occurred between March and December 2018.

The court heard the couple had 10 cats, 17 kittens and eight dogs.

The RSPCA received reports in late 2017 of the couple having a large number of animals, including cats, dogs, poultry and goats.

The pair was ordered to reduce the number of animals and clean up, with further compliance checks showing they had done so.

In February 2018, police contacted the RSPCA and told them there were four dogs, four geese and 14 cats living in poor conditions at the property.

Ms McEldowney said the cats were all living inside the house which “smelt putrid from faeces and urine”.

Candy was ordered to 12 months‘ probation and was prohibited from owning animals for life, but can have the prohibition reviewed every five years.

She was ordered to pay $18,301 in vet bills as well as $649 in legal and court costs.

Recio was fined $1200 with half to go to the RSPCA, and was prohibited from owning animals for two years.

He was also ordered to pay a total of $649 in court and legal costs as well as $125 in vet bills.

Convictions were not recorded for either Candy or Recio.

Woman fined for ‘callous’ abandonment of dogs

A magistrate described a woman‘s behaviour as “bordering on callous” after she left two dogs to fend for themselves.

Renee Louise Harrington was charged with three offences, including failing to provide appropriate living conditions and unreasonable abandonment.

Harrington’s matter was heard in Bundaberg Magistrates Court and the matter was dealt with in her absence.

Barrister Callan Cassidy appeared in the courtroom on behalf of the RSPCA.

Mr Cassidy told the court on November 4, 2019, the RSPCA received information from a concerned resident who thought the dogs had been abandoned.

He said that resident was also giving them food and water.

On November 5 and 6, 2019, the RSPCA went to the property and left call cards.

On November 7, search warrant was executed and both dogs were seized.

Magistrate Andrew Moloney took into account the facts and submissions made by the prosecution.

Mr Moloney said when Harrington was spoken to by the RSPCA inspector she “seemed to show no remorse” and that she didn’t ask about the welfare of the dogs.

He described the acts as “bordering on callous” leaving the animals to ”fend for themselves”.

Mr Moloney said arrangements for the animals to be looked after could have easily been made by phone.

Harrington was fined $3000 and was also ordered to pay $4871.63 in vet and legal costs.

She also received a three year prohibition order.

Convictions were recorded.

Woman fined $3.5k, dog put to sleep after life of agony

A woman was ordered to pay more than $3500 in fines, vet bills and legal costs after a family pet had to be euthanised.

Lana Odean Appo (pictured), 52, pleaded guilty to failing to provide appropriate accommodation and living conditions, failing to provide appropriate food and water and failing to provide appropriate treatment for injury and disease.

When an RSPCA inspector was called to Appo‘s home on March 22, 2019 for another dog, the inspector found a male chocolate and white border collie cross dog called Choc tethered to a pole.

Lana Odean Appo was fined when her dog had to be euthanised.

The dog was suffering from many conditions, including dermatitis, a painful hip, a chronic skin condition, hookworm and loss of hair around his neck.

When he was taken to the vet, the dog was found to have an enlarged prostate and his body condition was graded a two out of nine, with one being emaciated.

The court heard Appo lived with her de facto partner and seven others, including children and grandchildren.

Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan said she found it extraordinary that with so many people living in the home and “loving” the dog, that no one cared for him.

“It was said his condition was consistent with animal cruelty and neglect,” she said.

“Pets that live in homes are to be loved and given a home like all members of the family, you failed him terribly and you left him in a condition that required him to be put down, that is abhorrent behaviour.”

Appo was fined a total of $2000, half of which had to be paid to the RSPCA by the end of November with the rest referred to SPER.

She was also ordered to pay $101.80 in court costs, $794.46 in vet costs and $750 in professional costs. She was also given a two-year prohibition order.

Owner hacked pet cat’s leg off

Oscar, a persian moggy, ran into the path of a car and suffered nasty injuries.

But worse was to come for Oscar until the RSPCA stepped in.

His Bundaberg owners, Dharme Kinsey and Amy Matthews, did not take Oscar to the vet and his mangled leg worsened as the days went by.

Kinsey then got a knife and without anaesthetic chopped off Oscar‘s “dead” blackened right front leg.

The disturbing details emerged in Bundaberg Magistrates Court where Kinsey and Matthews pleaded guilty to two charges each: that between December 10, 2016, and January 10, 2017, they failed to provide medical care for a broken leg after Oscar was hit by a car; and between January 1 and January 10, they breached their duty of care by failing to take reasonable steps to provide care for a serious infection suffered by Oscar after his leg was amputated.

Kinsey pleaded guilty to committing cruelty to an animal – causing Oscar unnecessary pain by amputating its leg with a knife and without pain relief or antibiotics.

Ms McEldowney said on January 10, an RSPCA inspector found Oscar in a dog kennel at the Branyan house with blood on his open shoulder wound.

He was seized and taken to a vet and found to be underweight and anaemic. The vet amputated the leg fully.

Mr Lavaring convicted the couple, fined them $1000 each and ordered Matthews pay $1100 in costs to the RSPCA.

Kinsey was sentenced to three months in jail, immediately suspended, for the act of cruelty.

Mr Lavaring ordered Kinsey pay veterinary costs of $2800 to the RSPCA.

The couple were prohibited from having animals until December 31, 2025. Their remaining pets were seized.

No convictions recorded

Kenilworth Dairies owner guilty of animal cruelty

Prominent Queensland dairy farmer and businessman Selwyn John Cochrane has been fined $2500 for animal cruelty.

The owner of Kenilworth Dairies pleaded guilty in Caboolture Magistrates Court to charges of failing to comply with a compulsory code requirement, and being cruel to an animal and causing it unreasonable or unnecessary pain.

The charges stem from an incident at a Caboolture property on April 15, 2020.

Mary Valley businessman and dairy farmer Selwyn John Cochrane was fined for animal cruelty.

It is understood the matter fell within the scope of the Queensland Agriculture and Fisheries Department.

Speaking to The Gympie Times after the conviction, Cochrane said he was “remorseful” for the incident, which happened while he was trying to help a cow that was being stood on by another.

When trying to get that cow off he “accidentally hit the prodder on (another) cow’s shoulder instead of the head”, he said.

“It’s upsetting … we take care of our cows like they’re our pets.”

Cochrane was also ordered to pay $99 in court costs.

No conviction was recorded.

Gympie man cops $8000 fine for puppy neglect

A Monkland man failed to provide proper care for a three-month-old puppy after it was run over by a car.

He was reported to the RSPCA six and a half weeks later and was convicted in Gympie Magistrate‘s Court.

Tristan Webb, 28, pleaded guilty in 2019 to two counts of failing to provide appropriate treatment for injury and one of failing to provide appropriate food and water for his puppy named April.

The puppy’s left leg had to be amputated as a result, because the injury was too severe to heal, a RSPCA prosecutor told the court.

Webb’s younger brother Kia John Allen Reed, 19, pleaded guilty to the same charges in January.

Reed‘s three-month-old Bull Arab suffered a similar injury and also had a leg amputated.

Reed was placed on nine months‘ probation and ordered to pay $2787.82 to the RSPCA for treatment, plus costs, with no conviction recorded and a ban on having a dog for one year.

The court was told Webb claimed his dog had broken its leg, when it was accidentally run over by a car on their property.

Webb said he could not take the dogs to the vet as he had no money.

Webb was ordered to pay close to $8000 in fines, with half to be paid to the RSPCA.

He was prohibited from owning any more animals for two years.

Woman caused social media storm with dead possum

The social media photograph of a protected animal, shot dead in the Amamoor State Forest, launched not only a storm of angry Facebook responses, but also led to a significant fine in Gympie Magistrates Court.

Mooloo woman Mikala Ann Burns ended weeks of social media denials when she pleaded guilty in the court to killing a protected brushtail possum in the Amamoor State Forest.

Burns, 24, also pleaded guilty to unlawfully discharging a weapon in Amamoor State Forest, and with using a firearm without a permit, during the same course of action.

Mikala Burns and the infamous photo.

Police told the court the issue had become public on February 19, 2019, when a photograph was posted on social media showing two females displaying a dead possum.

The animal had been shot and killed during a night hunt, aimed at obtaining dog food, the court was told.

Magistrate Chris Callaghan said he accepted that Burns had shot a possum, but not identified her target and had realised it was wounded.

“Shooting in the forest was the most serious (of the charges),” he said.

“Someone else could have been there.”

He told Burns, unemployed at the time, that he intended to fine her, but she might be better off converting the penalty to community service.

He fined her $1000 with no conviction recorded.

Mother left dog for days in the dirt without water

A single mother left her two-year-old dog in the dirt under her Goomeri home while she went to visit her friend in Bundaberg for six days.

Rocky, a mixed breed male dog, was found by police, whimpering and sitting in the dirt with a dry water and food bowl alongside a filthy towel.

Police could see the dog’s rib cage and rear hip bones protruding, showing he was malnourished.

Casey May Lynch pleaded guilty to breaching the duty of care for an animal in Murgon Magistrates Court.

“Police are no experts, but they could see he was in discomfort,” police prosecutor Barry Stevens said.

Lynch, who admitted to leaving her dog under the house, told police she had never taken Rocky to the vet in the two years she had owned him and couldn‘t remember the last time she took him for a walk.

Magistrate Andrew Sinclair recognised that a dog could die in the conditions Rocky was left in without water, that it was a matter of neglect and a serious offence given Lynch was also responsible for her child.

Lynch was fined $750 and prevented from owning a dog for two years.

The dog was taken to Gympie RSPCA for treatment and Lynch was ordered to pay $267 in vet bills.

No conviction was recorded due to her youth and lack of history however, Mr Sinclair said that did not mean it was not a serious offence.

Lifetime ban for dog breeders

A couple, who had been breeding Jack russells for about 30 years, has received a lifetime ban from owning any animals because of the conditions in which the dogs were kept.

Diane Christine Wilkinson, 71, and Brendon Richard Wilkinson, 77, both from Byrnestown, pleaded guilty in Maryborough Magistrates Court to failing to provide appropriate accommodation or living conditions, failing to provide appropriate food and water and failing to provide appropriate treatment for an injury.

The court heard the couple were commercial dog breeders and owned 27 dogs at the time of offending.

All had since been rehomed or seized by the RSPCA.

During a visit from the RSPCA, the dogs and their puppies were seen living in a shed on concrete floors.

There was inadequate bedding and a large build-up of faeces and urine on the floor.

The Wilkinsons had been married for 35 years.

They had bred their dogs once every two years and sold about 20 pups a year.

Their original motivation was a desire to improve the bloodline in Australia.

The court heard community standards had changed regarding the accommodation of animals over the years and the offending had resulted from the couple misunderstanding rather than being intentionally cruel.

With the exception of four cockatiels and nine goats already owned by the couple, they were banned from owning any other animals without permission from the RSPCA.

The Wilkinsons were ordered to pay $3380 in restitution to the RSPCA and placed on a $700 good behaviour order for two years.

No convictions were recorded.

Woman repeatedly punched dog

Repeatedly punching a dog in front of police landed a woman before court.

Tracy Ann McManus pleaded guilty to one count of animal cruelty when she appeared before Hervey Bay Magistrates Court.

The court heard police were called to a home in relation to another matter.

The dog belonged to McManus‘ partner, who had owned the animal since it was a puppy.

She had since consulted with a psychologist and McManus, who had no criminal history, did not expect to be before a court again, the court was told.

Magistrate Stephen Guttridge said animals, like children, were very vulnerable.

McManus was fined $750 and no conviction was recorded.

GRAPHIC: CCTV of deadly attack on kangaroo joey

In 2019, the former curator of the Fraser Coast Wildlife Sanctuary pleaded guilty to animal cruelty.

Ray Revill, 62, served 12 months‘ probation and performed 150 hours of community service for the killing of a kangaroo joey.

Revill was removed from the role, which he had held for a decade, after CCTV footage showed him picking up a joey and violently throwing it against the ground.

The court heard the killing was “out of character” and carried out in a moment of “frustration”.

The current operators of the sanctuary have no link to Revill and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing on their part.

Neglected dog, puppies seized

A Fraser Coast couple was banned from owning pets for five years after they pleaded guilty to numerous animal neglect charges.

Natasha Lee, 35, and Shane Leslie Bennett, 38, both pleaded guilty to four charges of breach of care to an animal when they appeared before Hervey Bay Magistrates Court.

According to a statement of facts provided to the court, the RSPCA received a complaint about the welfare of a dog and her two puppies at the couple’s Aldershot home.

The inspector saw the couple’s dog, a great dane cross bull arab named Sasha, through the fence.

She was tethered to a large metal chain and was in an emaciated condition, with her hips, ribs and spine protruding, as well as visible muscle wastage.

The two male puppies were also seen by the inspector.

Both were in reasonable body condition but had severely distended abdomens, indicating they had hookworm burdens.

Sasha and the puppies were later seized by the RSPCA.

The animals were taken to Gympie Vet Services where Sasha was found to be dehydrated, emciated, with a whipworm burden, fleas and a body score of one in a scale of one to 9.

It was found that her condition was preventable and would have been present from gestation or earlier and exacerbated by poor living conditions, inadequate diet and underfeeding.

The two puppies had a moderate flea burden, a heavy hookworm burden and one had a heart murmur.

Sasha and her puppies were recovered and rehomed.

The couple was each fined $2500 and ordered to pay $418.70 in vet bills.

They were banned from owning animals for five years other than those approved by the RSPCA’s chief inspector.

No convictions were recorded.

Snake handler’s putrid animal house

Life inside Anthony John Zink’s suburban Bundaberg North home was like a zoo.

A filthy zoo.

The well-known snake handler appeared in Bundaberg Magistrates Court where he faced 17 charges relating to the conditions he provided for the animals in his care.

The court heard the animals were kept in dirty and unhygienic conditions.

The RSPCA returned to Zink‘s home with police, a reptile expert, wildlife vet nurse and government officers where they determined the condition for all animals was inappropriate and a decision was made to seize them.

Zink pleaded guilty to 11 counts of failing to provide appropriate accommodation or living condition, five counts of fail to provide appropriate treatment for injury and a charge of failing to provide food or water.

Appearing before magistrate Terry Duroux, Zink, who was self representing, advised the court designated times were scheduled to clean the animal‘s enclosures, but the RSPCA arrived before this date.

The court also heard another part of the property was to blame for the odour and not the animal enclosure.

He took into account Zink‘s guilty plea, his age and the fact he had no previous history.

He also took into account the time it took to reach sentencing.

Anthony Zink pleaded guilty to 11 counts of failing to provide appropriate accommodation or living condition, five counts of fail to provide appropriate treatment for injury and a charge of failing to provide food or water.

“This trial was set for two days, but it was able to be dealt with on day one,” he said.

Zink was given a prohibition order until September 2021.

He was not allowed new animals, but he was allowed to keep one cat – a ragdoll called Charlie.

His son‘s pets were also allowed to stay at the property only when the son was physically residing there.

Zink was placed on two years probation.

He was also ordered to pay court costs and $3250 in vet care and boarding which were referred to SPER.

No conviction was recorded.