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A woman has faced court action after she refused to seek veterinary treatment for her puppy for two months after it was struck by a vehicle.
She was sentenced at Napier District Court on Tuesday in relation to one charge of reckless ill treatment of an animal, among other charges.
The woman's seven-month old puppy, Girl, slipped loose from her lead, ran out onto the road and was hit by a vehicle in October 2021.
Road workers who witnessed the incident took the woman and Girl to a vet clinic.
The veterinarian said Girl had "serious internal injuries", including fractures, a ruptured diaphragm and blunt force trauma to the lungs, as well as being in an "extreme amount of pain".
However, the woman became verbally abusive towards the veterinarian, telling her them she had no money for treatment.
The clinic contacted the SPCA who advised the woman to surrender Girl to them for urgent treatment.
Despite being told by the veterinarian that Girl’s pain relief would only last two hours, the woman then left the clinic with the puppy.
Financial options for treatment, as well as euthanasia as a humane option were offered, the SPCA said.
SPCA inspectors arrived at the woman's address hours later but were told she did not live there.
They continued to try and locate the woman and Girl without success until December, when they received a call about a puppy with a broken leg tied up outside an office building.
An attending inspector recognised the puppy as Girl and attempted to take her before the woman forcibly removed her and left.
The SPCA found Girl at a Christchurch address with her right foreleg dangling and unable to carry weight.
Police had to restrain the woman as Girl was removed from the address for veterinary treatment.
The woman told the SPCA when she had first taken Girl home after her injury, she had "bandaged her leg up with sticks after watching a YouTube video".
Girl had not gotten up for three days and she did not seek veterinary treatment but removed the sticks after one-and-a-half months.
X-rays found Girl had healing fractures on her upper and lower right leg, a dislocated right elbow joint, and muscle wastage on her right shoulder.
The veterinarian found the fracture should have been treated and managed with pain relief, saying Girl would have "been in a lot of pain and distress at the time and would have suffered greatly".
Girl's leg was amputated as the injuries were so extensive and left untreated for two months.
The woman was sentenced in relation to the SPCA charge and a number of unrelated police charges.
The combined sentence was 17 months imprisonment and disqualification from owning dogs for five years.
SPCA chief executive Todd Westwood says the owner’s actions were incredibly irresponsible and the puppy would have suffered a great deal as a result.
"Withholding treatment to an injured animal is extremely cruel and in this case the owner was given several options of help and advice by the vet and SPCA which she willingly ignored.
"There is some comfort though knowing that after spending time in SPCA’s care we were able to find Girl a loving new forever home."
