Julie Moala: Tregear Mum convicted of animal cruelty in shar-pei abuse case
A male shar pei had to be put down after it was found emaciated, infested with fleas and with a wound infected through to the bone.
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A Tregear woman has narrowly avoided jail for animal cruelty after her dog was found abandoned in a backyard with a leg wound so bad, it was infected to the bone.
Julie Mitai Moala, 40, of Tregear, was sentenced in Mt Druitt Local Court today after pleading guilty to one count of committing an act of aggravated animal cruelty on her male shar pei ‘Rolex’.
RSPCA inspectors were called to her home in January 2019 after receiving an animal cruelty complaint about the dog which had been left in the backyard with no food or water for almost two weeks.
The dog was found to be infested with fleas with protruding bones and a wound to its leg that was infected to the bone.
According to court documents, RSPCA inspectors made two failed attempts to contact Moala and returned to the house several days later and seized the dog.
A report from an RSPCA vet said the dog was so emaciated, it was rated as the most severe on the animal care scale and had to be euthanised.
It is believed the dog had been suffering for at least two months.
Moala later told the RSPCA that she did not take the dog to the vet due to costs and had made arrangements with family to feed the dog while she had been away from over Christmas 2018.
She said she had left a tap dripping in the backyard for the dog as it would have been too aggressive for her family to approach it.
Moala’s defence solicitor said she struggled to afford vet bills as she was a single mother to nine children.
Magistrate James Gibson said the case was “disturbing”.
“Your dog suffered to a real extent over the period of time he was left alone,” Mr Gibson said.
“He was malnourished, had a severely-wounded right leg, anaemia, fleas and other medical conditions which really required you to take him to the vet.
“It’s a very serious example of neglect and led to the dog’s euthanasia.”
Moala was ordered to enter a Community Corrections Order for nine months and pay the RSPCA $252 to cover vet bills.