Kerri Michelle Cawood sentenced at Bendigo over vile animal cruelty of two dogs after RSPCA bust

A Central Victorian woman’s cruelty left two dogs with open wounds and starved to skeletons, with one pup suffering so badly it had to be euthanised.

Kerri Michelle Cawood, 45, pleaded guilty at Bendigo Magistrates' Court to animal cruelty charges brought by the RSPCA after she neglected two dogs.

The RSPCA has exposed a Wedderburn woman’s animal cruelty that left two dogs with open wounds and starved to skeletons, with one pup suffering so badly it had to be euthanised.

Kerri Cawood, 46, pleaded guilty on Tuesday at Bendigo Magistrates’ Court to animal cruelty charges after the RSPCA found a female rottweiler cross named Nisa and a male Mastiff cross named Archie were “emaciated” with their ribs showing and open wounds being attacked by flies.

Cawood was ordered to seek veterinarian treatment in November 2022 but failed to do so and the dogs were taken from her in January 2023.

A rottweiler, like the one pictured, named Nisa was neglected so badly at Cawood’s Wedderburn property she had to be euthanised. Picture: Renee Pilcher.

The vet who examined the dogs found “obvious signs of neglect” including malnutrition and infected, open wounds that were being attacked by flies and unable to heal.

“Any lay person should have been able to recognise that they were emaciated and were in discomfort, and should have sought veterinary help for them sooner,” the vet said in a statement to the court.

Nisa was euthanised, while Archie was able to recover and was rehomed.

Cawood’s legal aid lawyer told the court the animal abuser was on Centrelink and did not have access to a car, and had been unable to get her pets to the vet, but fully accepted responsibility for her neglect by pleading guilty.

The court heard Cawood had a history of animal cruelty.

Magistrate Dominic Lennon said it was “hard to comprehend how anyone could do this … to an animal”.

“The photos show the dogs … must have been suffering very badly,” he said.

Mr Lennon convicted and sentenced Cawood to a 12-month community corrections order with 100 hours of community work.

Cawood was banned from owning a dog for five years and ordered to pay the RSPCA’s court costs.