NT woman banned from having pets after dog cruelty leaves animal infested with ticks

ANIMAL Welfare inspectors seized a dog that was so badly infested with ticks it needed a blood transfusion

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ANIMAL  Welfare inspectors seized a dog that was so badly infested with ticks it needed a blood transfusion – but the owner has remained “indifferent” to the harm she caused, a magistrate has said.

Donna Maree Knight, 41, was given a three-month suspended prison sentence after she was found guilty of failing in her duty of care to the animal by not treating her for thousands of ticks.

Darwin Magistrate Alan Woodcock said Knight’s act­ions were cruel.

“The dog was in a pitiful state,” he told her.

“Your attitude remains one of indifference to its suffering.”

Knight had two previous convictions for animal cruelty and said the young brindle mixed breed, named Angel, was a birthday present to her now 17-year-old daughter, whom she was “teaching to be responsible”.

“I could have helped more (but) I was working a lot,” Knight said.

She said tick treatment was “poison” that she did not want her children to be “playing with”.

Knight’s daughter gave evidence she often tried to pick off the ticks and that Angel had lost her appetite.

“She wasn’t moving or eating ... I carried her down the road to the vet,” she told the court.

The Palmerston vet clinic reported the case to the NT Animal Welfare Authority, which launched its own ­investigation.

Animal Welfare worker Cobi Lawler said Angel was the skinniest dog she had ever seen when she attended the clinic in May, 2015.

A phenomenal effort, inc­luding intensive care and a blood transfusion, was put into Angel’s recovery.

She had since been found a new home.

Magistrate Alan Woodcock found that Angel was in Knight’s care, custody or supervision.

“You chose not to do anything about the ticks to teach your daughter a lesson,” he said.

Knight was banned from having pets for two years, meaning she must rehome her two snakes.

She was convicted and ­ordered to pay almost $1100 in vet and court costs.

Report cases of neglect and cruelty to Animal Welfare on 1300 720 386.