Sunshine Coast’s animal abusers in court revealed
WARNING GRAPHIC: Animal cruelty on the Sunshine Coast has skyrocketed. Now, the faces and names behind some of the region’s cruelty cases are revealed.
Sunshine Coast
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Animal abuse in the Sunshine Coast region has increased significantly since the previous year according to the RSPCA, with 496 cases of cruelty and neglect already reported this year.
For the whole of 2020, there were only 253 cases, revealing a percentage increase of 96 per cent.
The 2021 numbers for the Noosa Shire Council area stand at 85, while Gympie has recorded 156 this year.
This pain and suffering inflicted upon innocent animals is an illegal activity that organisations like the RSPCA are working to prevent.
From a man who forced dogs to fight against each other to a pet owner who flogged his dog with a belt, these are the most recent residents from the Sunshine Coast who had convictions recorded against them for committing harmful crimes against animals.
JARED NATHAN TRENEAR
A Brisbane magistrate jailed a Maroochydore man in 2019, after he cruelly forced dogs to fight, deprived them of water and chained them up for weeks.
Father-of-three, Jared Nathan Trenear, 35, was sentenced to six months behind bars after he pleaded guilty to eight counts of dog fighting, one count of failing to treat illness or disease, one count of failing to provide water, one count of inappropriate living conditions and one count of permitting an animal to injure another animal.
The charges came after adult dogs and two litters of puppies, aged nine-weeks and four-months, were seized from Trenear’s Mount Cotton property by the RSPCA.
RSPCA prosecutor Adrian Braithwaite told the court the dogs were found restrained with a wire tether, not provided with suitable bedding and did not have access to clean water.
“The photographs speak for themselves as to what kind of pain and suffering this creates, ”Mr Braithwaite said.
Trenear was ordered to pay $6388.50 to the RSPCA for medical costs associated with his dogs and received a life ban from owning dogs or poultry. He was released on parole after about four weeks’ actual jail time had been served.
JAMES DANIEL O’BRIEN
James Daniel O’Brien was banned from owning a dog for three years in 2020, when he received a suspended sentence for animal cruelty.
Maroochydore Magistrates Court heard his neighbours rushed to O’Brien’s Nambour home on July 19, 2020 when they heard a dog yelping and crying in pain.
One man told police he came to the door to see a “scared dog” cowering in the corner of the yard just after 10pm.
“The witness stated he saw the defendant with an item in his hand that looked like a belt and his was belting his dog numerous times while it was trapped in the corner of his yard,” police prosecutor Dave Bradley said.
“The witness then saw the defendant grab the dog by the scruff of its neck and yank it hard before letting the dog go and he kicked it once.”
O'Brien was sentenced to one month in jail, wholly suspended.
A conviction was recorded and O’Brien was banned from owning a pet for three years.
KRYSTAL LEE MCKINLEY
A Woombye woman was banned from owning dogs for two years after the Sunshine Coast Council seized an emaciated dog and eight puppies from her home.
Krystal Lee McKinley, 33, pleaded not guilty to breaching her duty of care to an animal by failing to provide fresh water, food and clean living conditions, but was found guilty in Maroochydore Magistrates Court.
A vet described a female german shepherd found at McKinley‘s home in April as healthy, but “severely emaciated”.
“I would give the dog a body condition of one out of nine or even below this score, indicating the severity of the lack of body condition,” he said.
The vet said the dog‘s condition was likely due to “not receiving adequate food intake” while nursing its eight puppies which were in good health.
McKinley was fined $3500, banned from owning a dog for two years and must get her dogs desexed.
RYAN MARTIN HAYES
A Mooloolah man who slapped one of Rockhampton’s beloved Clydesdales on the rear in a drunken antic has fronted court.
Ryan Martin Hayes had his matter mentioned at Rockhampton Magistrates Court on Monday, March 29 and was sentenced on June 3, 2021.
He faced charges of one count each of animal cruelty, public nuisance within or in the vicinity of a licensed premises and urinating in a public place.
The 38-year-old was a patron at the Oxford Hotel on Saturday March 13 around 8.40pm when he ran onto the road at the corner of East and Denham Sts and slapped a horse’s buttocks, causing it to be startled.
Steve May of Capricorn Carriages was conducting his regular horse and carriage rides and said the incident scared his clydesdale Finley and rudely interrupted his carriage ride of 10 ladies on a hen’s party.
It is understood Hayes was in Rockhampton doing roofing work.
Hayes was fined $2600 in total for all three charges.
TYSON JAMES SHAW-HOLLAND
A 21-year-old ice addict was intoxicated and hadn’t slept for days when he violently attacked a stranger and his dog, leaving the man with a bloody, fractured arm and the dog with a broken sternum, a court heard.
Tyson James Shaw-Holland, 21, was jailed in Maroochydore District Court this year for the “senseless” act of violence against a stranger and his dog in Palmwoods.
Shaw-Holland charged at the then 49-year-old man and struck him with a 40cm steel pole saying “F--- off scum, you druggo, we don't have people like you in our neighbourhood”.
Shaw-Holland swung the steel bar at him, which the victim blocked with his forearm.
Shaw-Holland chased him and then kicked his dog with enough force to break its sternum.
On the grievous bodily harm charge Shaw-Holland was sentenced to three years and nine months’ imprisonment, suspended for an operational period of five years after he serves 12 months.
For the animal cruelty he was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment and three years’ probation.
Judge Long ordered Shaw-Holland to pay $523.55 compensation.
JASON CLIFFORD BROOKER
Morayfield father Jason Clifford Brooker beat his English Staffordshire bull terrier in a moment of rage outside a 7-Eleven service station at Caboolture in 2020.
According to the RSPCA Brooker slapped the dog, named Sharmona, seven times and punched it three times as it yelped in pain.
Magistrate James Blanch heard that while Brooker did beat the dog during the public display of rage, it was otherwise in good condition and did not show signs of fear towards him.
“You can’t treat dogs like that,” Magistrate Blanch said.
Brooker pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and inappropriate handling and was fined $1600 and ordered to pay more than $1000 in costs.
He was also placed on a two-year animal prohibition order but was not forced to surrender his dog.
LIAM JOSEPH ROCHE
Moreton Bay man Liam Joseph Roche pleaded guilty to beating his six-month-old American Staffordshire terrier Brax while taking it for a walk on June 9, 2020.
The court heard Roche was filmed hitting the puppy so hard it lifted off the ground and then hoisting it up by its collar and hitting it twice.
The court heard Roche had a “brain snap” after working a 14-hour shift but was also reportedly heard most nights yelling and swearing at the dog despite the dog being in good physical condition.
“I can show you 100 photos of how (the puppy has) been loved,” Roche said.
Roche pleaded guilty to one charge of inappropriate handling of the dog — which was seized by the RSPCA — and was fined $1200 and ordered to pay costs of more than $2000 for vet bills, boarding and court proceedings, and was placed on a two-year pet ownership prohibition order.
TRISTAN WEBB
Tristan Webb, then 28, pleaded guilty in 2019 to two charges of failing to provide appropriate treatment for injury and one of failing to provide appropriate food and water for his puppy.
Webb who resides in Monkland, told the Gympie Magistrates Court his puppy was run over by a car and had broken her leg, but he could not afford to take her to the vet.
After being reported to the RSPCA six weeks later, it was discovered the puppy‘s injuries were too severe to heal, and April’s left hind leg was amputated.
April was also underweight, had a severe hookworm infestation and a small area of hair loss, likely to be ringworm.
Webb was fined almost $8000 and banned from owning more animals for two years.
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