CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #16858 Rating: 1.0 out of 5
Dog stabbed, throat slashed
Ottoway, SA (AU)Incident Date: Monday, Jun 1, 2009
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Trevor James Bond
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
He admits fatally slashing the throat of his ex-partner's dog, but Trevor James Bond may yet avoid an animal cruelty conviction on a legal technicality.
Bond, 47, of Ottoway, stood trial in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court yesterday accused of ill-treating an animal to cause death during a "frenzied knife attack" in June, 2009.
Yesterday his lawyers said the case should be thrown out because Bond did not stab the animal as alleged by the RSPCA - he only cut it with a knife.
Blair Tremaine, for Bond, said that even had the charges been worded differently, slashing an animal's throat was not inhumane under state law, meaning no crime had been committed.
"It would seem clear that killing an animal is not necessarily an offence," he said.
"It's not the killing of the animal, it's the treatment the animal receives leading up to its death that is the offence.
"In my submission, it's not killing an animal that is a crime but killing it in a way that causes it unnecessary pain."
Mr Tremaine said the prosecution case hinged on the reference to a repeated stabbing to cause death, an action which was not conclusively supported by evidence.
"He (Bond) comes to court to meet that charge," Mr Tremaine said. "There's a difference between a cut, which might be defined as an incision, as opposed to a stabbing.
"He didn't stab it, he cut its throat."
Nikki, a keeshond, died in August, 2009, allegedly following a domestic dispute between its owner and Bond.
The RSPCA has alleged Bond slit the animal's throat and stabbed it repeatedly before dumping its body in a wheelie bin. It further alleges Bond was "in a drunken rage" at the time.
Yesterday Sophie Downey, for the RSPCA, said Nikki was subjected to an "unnecessary and violent" attack.
"The defendant has taken his rage out on the animal in a way that was terrible, distressing, painful and horrendous for the animal," she said.
"The evidence does establish that Nikki was subjected to an unnecessary and violent attack with a knife.
"Rage was an obvious motive ... he has a clear memory of killing the animal and says so."
Giving evidence yesterday, vet Alex Whittaker said the five cuts would have distressed Nikki, but only one could be considered life threatening.
But of the five cuts, Dr Whittaker said only one of them would have caused life-threatening injuries.
Magistrate Paul Foley will hand down his verdict next month.
Case UpdatesThe RSPCA says an Ottoway man is the first to be jailed for an act of animal cruelty in South Australia under revised laws.
Trevor James Bond, 48, was found guilty in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court of slaughtering his partner's dog in June last year.
The court heard he told police he lost control while drunk and fighting with his partner.
He has been jailed for five months for ill-treating an animal. | Source: abc.net.au - Dec 19, 2010
Update posted on Dec 19, 2010 - 9:56PM |
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