Claudio De Sousa fined $11,000 for animal cruelty at Riverwood home

A father has been ordered to pay $11,000 after his 11-year-old Staffordshire Terrier was found underweight in squalid conditions in his mother’s Riverwood home. GRAPHIC WARNING

Claudio De Sousa, was sentenced in Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to four counts of failing to provide vet treatment and one count committing an act of cruelty upon an animal. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

A father has been ordered to pay more than $11,000 in fines and vet costs after the RSPCA seized his neglected dog that had skin, eye and ear infections.

The dog was found underweight with overgrown nails in squalid conditions in a garden shed, surrounded by faeces, in the dark and without water.

The female blue Staffordshire Terrier’s owner, Claudio De Sousa, was sentenced in Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to four counts of failing to provide vet treatment and one count of committing an act of cruelty upon an animal.

Agreed facts tendered to court said RSPCA inspectors attended De Sousa’s mother’s Riverwood home on October 21, last year after they were called about two tethered dogs and another dog locked in a garden shed.

The inspectors found the two tethered dogs were in good condition but upon looking in the shed, they found Elektra.

The RSPCA seized a neglected dog who had skin, eye and ear infections. Picture: RSPCA

The dog was in poor body condition, had fur missing over her face and body with crusty scaly skin,

Inspectors spoke to De Sousa on the phone who said he knew, “Elektra’s a very sick dog,” and “she’s been losing weight”, adding he had kept her at his mother’s house while his house was under construction.

He said Elektra had a skin issue and had been prescribed antibiotics but was told to stop after she got dizzy.

The inspectors removed Elektra and took her to the shelter where a vet examined her.

She had conjunctivitis, a skin disease, a teeth disease, muscular atrophy of the hind legs, overgrown claws, hookworm, was underweight, had mild anaemia and abnormal lymph nodes.

Elektra was provided with treatment and medications for her conditions, and her nails were trimmed.

De Sousa told the inspectors he asked his mother to care of the dog for about three months and he was talking to a vet online about her body weight.

He said he normally visited his mum’s house every couple of days but had not been there within the week prior and had not taken her to the vet since December 2021.

A dog was found in squalid conditions in a garden shed, surrounded by faeces, in the dark and without water with overgrown nails. Picture: RSPCA

The court heard De Sousa owned Elektra since 2013 and had cared for her for 10 years with regular vet check ups.

De Sousa’s lawyer Joseph Capogreso said his client ran a construction business and had suffered financial hardship due to the pandemic.

He said De Sousa had since been diagnosed with anxiety and stress and had “put his head in the sand” and ignored responsibility.

“The behaviour is inexcusable, but it is a reason why he was diligent in caring for the dog and how he let the dog get into the condition,” Mr Capogreso said.

Magistrate Phillip Stewart said the photos of the dog “did not paint a pretty picture” noting how she was left in “dirty disgusting conditions for an animal”.

Mr Stewart took into account De Sousa’s nil prior history and his financial circumstances before imposing a fine of $5000 and ordered him to pay $6151 for veterinary costs the RSPCA incurred.

De Sousa was prohibited from purchasing, acquiring or taking possession or custody of an animal for two years and Elektra was forfeited into the care of the RSPCA.