Pets Galore owner Nicole Louise Bourne agrees to prohibition order

The owner of a Toowoomba pet store facing a raft of animal welfare charges has agreed to a prohibition order until the case is completed.

Pets Galore. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Toowoomba animal store Pets Galore owner Nicole Louise Bourne has agreed to a court order prohibiting the store from having a certain number of animals until RSPCA charges against her have been finalised.

Bourne appeared in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Tuesday with her barrister Jack Kennedy and instructing solicitor Harrison Humphries of Clifford Gouldson Lawyers.

Barrister Liza Marshall, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told the court after negotiations the parties had agreed to an interim prohibition order restricting the number of animals Pets Galore could have until the case against the defendant is completed.

Mr Kennedy said the order was consented to without admissions.

Ms Bourne has been charged with 52 counts of failing to provide food and water for animals, 58 counts of failing to provide appropriate treatment for injured animals, 48 counts of failing to provide appropriate accommodation or living conditions for animals, 41 counts of failing to take reasonable steps to provide for the animal’s needs for displaying normal patterns of behaviour in a way that is appropriate, and one of failing to comply with an animal welfare direction.

The charges follow an RSPCA raid of the Toowoomba store on May 20, 2020, during which RSPCA welfare officers seized hundreds of animals from the Pets Galore site in the city including cats, a dog, rodents and birds.

She has not been required as yet to enter any pleas to the charges and has been on bail since her arrest.

Magistrate Kay Ryan formally made the prohibition order and asked where the case was going.

Ms Marshall said investigators were still compiling the briefs of evidence arising from three complaints which included a total 208 charges.

Ms Ryan therefore remanded Bourne on bail and adjourned the case for mention back in the same court on February 1, 2022.

Originally published as Pets Galore owner Nicole Louise Bourne agrees to prohibition order