Howick man pleads guilty to severe neglect
When most New Zealanders were firing up the barby just after New Year’s 2011, an SPCA Volunteer Ambulance driver was
making a grisly discovery in East Auckland.
It was the day after New Year’s 2011 when an SPCA Ambulance was called to a property in Howick to collect a dog to
transport to a vet clinic. The animal’s owner, Mr Olmstead, 43, claimed to have only just noticed the dog’s condition.
The dog, an Airedale terrier, was found lying in the garden in the following condition:
• Coat extremely matted and dirty with faeces covering the anus and vulva.
• Both eyes were infected with conjunctivitis and full of pus.
• It was extremely weak and unable to walk and severely dehydrated.
• It suffered from a serious ear infection of the left ear and had a large, ruptured tumour beneath the right ear.
• The dog was obviously in great pain and discomfort.
The driver transported the dog to a veterinary clinic for an examination that confirmed these findings. The vet rang Mr
Olmstead and advised that due to its condition and obvious suffering euthanasia was recommended. The Defendant gave
consent over the phone.
“Clearly this dog had been severely neglected and in acute pain over a considerable period of time,” says Bob Kerridge,
Executive Director SPCA Auckland. “For the owner to claim that he had only just noticed any of this is simply
unbelievable. This was confirmed by the vet who felt it was impossible that Mr Olmstead could have ‘just discovered’ the
overall condition of his animal.
“Any normal person would have realised that the dog was suffering and needed urgent veterinary treatment long before it
got into this appalling state.”
In the Manukau District Court Mr Olmstead amended his plea to guilty at the Judge’s suggestion, with the date for
sentencing set for 22 August 2012.
“The message here is simple: Animal owners cannot just stop caring for their pets and then casually expect the SPCA to
turn a blind eye. People who inflict pain and suffering on vulnerable animals in their care will pay the price,” says Mr
Kerridge.
ENDS