Shane Polson greyhound cruelty conviction appeal dismissed
A man who starved a greyhound to death, blamed it on his former partner and repeatedly lied about the dog’s existence claimed police and the justice system were against him because he wasn’t a local. WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE
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A Deniliquin man who falsely claimed his greyhound died weighing just 10.5 kilograms because it ate a block of chocolate and got diarrhoea has failed in his attempt to have animal cruelty convictions quashed.
Shane Polson, 45, was living in Dubbo in 2018 when he travelled to Singleton to pick up three “giveaways” from greyhound trainer Tamara Ball.
By early July 2018, one of the greyhounds was dead and two had disappeared.
Polson’s cruel acts were discovered by police who went to his former home on Minore Rd, after Greyhound Racing NSW raised welfare concerns.
Dubbo District Court Judge Nanette Williams said Polson deliberately lied about there being a greyhound inside the home six times and refused to let police, who could smell urine and faeces, inspect the property.
After police gained entry, they discovered a female greyhound struggling to breathe inside Polson’s bathroom, officers called a Dubbo Regional Council ranger to take the dog to a vet for treatment.
The greyhound died before she reached Doctor Ross Pedrana’s pet medical centre.
In a statement to police, Dr Pedrana said the greyhound was “extremely emaciated and dehydrated.”
“There was a foul smelling diarrhoea oozing from the anus and there was also a brownish-green fluid discharging from the mouth … the teeth were all stained brown,” Dr Pedrana said.
“The ribs were prominent and there was no body fat evident on the carcass.”
Polson has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges when he faced Dubbo Local Court last year.
He claimed the dog ate a 350g block of Cadbury chocolate and “it just kept shitting and shitting”.
“It was just going straight through the dog left, right and centre,” Polson told police who obtained evidence from Dr Pedrana which indicated the dead greyhound had not ingested chocolate.
In court, Polson’s former partner Cara Thompson said he chose to stop feeding the greyhounds because he no longer wanted to attempt to train them.
Magistrate Theresa Hamilton convicted Polson of aggravated animal cruelty, three counts of failing to provide veterinary treatment to an animal and one count of intimidating a Greyhound Racing NSW official who Polson called and said “they are going to find a dead body in Dubbo if you come back to my home c***”.
Earlier this year, Polson narrowly avoided time behind bars when he was sentenced to an eight-month intensive corrections order, a 12-month community corrections order and banned from owning animals for five years.
He appealed the convictions in the District Court and claimed police and the justice system were inherently biased against him because he was not from Dubbo.
“I’m not denying I went over there … and got the dogs, but I didn’t own them,” Polson told the court.
“I had three labradors … we never got giveaways … never once have I hidden anything from anybody.”
Polson claimed his ex-partner, Ms Thompson, was responsible for the dogs.
“I’ve had animals since I was two foot two, nothing’s ever done wrong.
“My biggest mistake was being with her.”
During his latest court appearance, Polson pointed at Judge Nanette Williams, referred to her as a magistrate and was taken to task for allegedly swearing at the crown prosecutor.
In response to the behaviour, Judge Williams threatened to kick Polson out of the courtroom.
“Don’t speak over me … I’m not a magistrate,” Judge Williams told Polson.
“Please don’t point at me … Mr Polson please behave yourself.”
Judge Williams said Polson was responsible for all three greyhounds obtained from Singleton and upheld the convictions he was handed in the local court.
“It beggars belief that a person could deny food to a dog over a period of time,” she said.
“I accept Ms Thompson’s evidence that these dogs were deprived of food in an attempt to starve them to death.”