AR-News: (NZ) ROYAL NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Scoop
For release: 23rd June 2004 
SPCA PRAISES SPEEDY RESOLUTION OF CRUELTY CASE 
The Royal New Zealand SPCA has praised the speedy trial and sentencing of a 
Nelson man found guilty of beating his dog on the head with a hammer. 
The Nelson District Court yesterday sentenced Adam John May (30) to 250 hours 
Community Service and banned him from owning animals for five years. May was 
also ordered to pay $428 to the SPCA's Nelson branch at the rate of $10 per 
week, to cover veterinary expenses. 
The injured dog, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier called Chopper, has been 
forfeited to the SPCA . 
"This was a cruel and vicious attack on poor Chopper, who suffered soft- 
tissue injuries to his skull, fractured teeth and jaw injuries. There can be no 
excuses for this kind of wanton cruelty," says the Royal New Zealand SPCA's 
Acting Chief Executive, Jenny Prattley. 
Mrs Prattley notes that the sentence comes less than two weeks after the New 
Plymouth District Court sentenced a woman to 300 hours Community Service and 
ordered her to pay $4,000 in reparations to the SPCA after she was found guilty 
of failing to care adequately for 21 Persian cats. 
"Taken together, these two cases suggest that our courts are starting to take 
a tougher line with people who are cruel or callous in their treatment of 
animals. It should be borne in mind that these are still far from draconian 
sentences when compared to those allowed for by the 1999 Animal Welfare Act. For 
example, in Chopper's case, his former owner could have faced a fine of $25,000 
and/or six months in prison. 

full story:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0406/S00230.htm 
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"As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower beings, he 
will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will 
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joy and love" -Pythagorus
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