Australia: Police return seized dogs

Australia: Police return seized dogs
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Jeremy Pierce
December 28, 2009 11:00pm

THREE dogs rescued by police from a locked car at a Gold Coast theme park have been returned to their owner - even though she is now facing animal cruelty charges.

The small cross-breed dogs were found locked inside a sedan in the Sea World car park on Sunday afternoon while their owners enjoyed a day at the theme park.

The windows of the car had been wound down slightly and there was a small bowl of water, but the dogs appeared to be in a distressed state and had been locked inside for several hours.

A concerned on-looker called police, who freed the pets and took them to the Gold Coast City Council pound at Labrador to recover.

However, later in the day their owner, who allegedly assaulted a television cameraman when confronted over allegations of animal cruelty, turned up at the pound and was reunited with her pets.

RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty said it was highly doubtful the pets would have been returned to the woman if they had been taken to an RSPCA shelter.

"It would have been at our discretion, so we would have been able to hold on to them instead of giving them straight back to her," he said.

"Unfortunately, the council doesn't have that power, so they are obliged to return the animals."

A 33-year-old woman from Cobram, Victoria, and a 47-year-old man from Peterhead, South Australia, were each charged with three counts of animal cruelty over the incident and are due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on January 27.

The woman was also charged with common assault, wilful damage and stealing in relation to the alleged incident involving the cameraman.

On the same day and just a few hundred metres down the road, a 32-year-old from Rydalmere, NSW, allegedly locked his dog in a car outside a hotel on Seaworld Drive.

Police will allege that the vehicle's windows were all closed and the dog was unattended for about one hour.

The man is due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on January 18 on one count of animal cruelty.

Gold Coast City Council's animal control unit could not be contacted.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,26532883-3102,00.html