Wa Woman Convicted Of Cruelty Was A Dog Foster Carer

[gapvic]

The woman at the centre of a horrific animal cruelty case has been identified as a former dog foster carer.

Gemma Louise Tovey was found guilty in her absence on September 23 in Mandurah Magistrates Court of three counts of cruelty to an animal by abandonment and one count of failing to provide proper and sufficient food to an animal.

The court heard RSPCA inspectors went to Ms Tovey's former address in Waroona on September 12, 2012, and found two emaciated and abandoned dogs locked inside.

Another dog, a female greyhound, was found dead in a pool of urine.

A later inspection of the home revealed faecal matter littering the floor and walls and scratches on a toilet door indicating a dog had been locked in for some time.

The greyhound, which weighed just 14.1kgs, was taken to Murdoch Hospital for an autopsy which revealed leather, metal and elastic bands in its stomach.

The average weight of a female greyhound of similar age was reported to be between 27-34kg.

Inspectors seized the remaining dogs – a Siberian husky and a rottweiler staffy cross.

New information now suggests the Siberian husky seized from Ms Tovey was actually a foster dog placed in the offender's care by rescue group Greyhound Angels.

Melita Shonis from the rescue group said Shona was fostered by Ms Tovey on August 7.

Within weeks Shona was missing, with Ms Tovey telling Ms Shonis the dog was in the care of a friend.

Ms Shonis was then told the husky had been seized by the RSPCA.

"It's heartbreaking," she said.

"In 20 years of Greyhound Angels we have never had this happen.

"We have never lost a dog."

The RSPCA is yet to confirm the husky seized from Ms Tovey's property was Shona.

"We would love her back," Ms Shonis said.

"But at the end of the day I'll be happy if Shona's happy.

"I've been fearful this whole time she was dead.

"Now at least I have a glimmer of hope."

Ms Tovey was contacted for comment regarding the foster dog. She did not reply.

Ms Tovey now faces a maximum penalty of $50,000 and five years imprisonment. Prosecutors are also seeking to have her banned from owning dogs.During a brief appearance this week she was not required to comment.

No defence has been raised on her behalf.

She was released on $1000 bail pending her sentence date on November 25.

Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/wa-woman-convicted-of-animal-cruelty-was-dog-foster-carer-20141016-1171lx.html#ixzz3GN1HEuxM

My link

[tdierikx]

Scary...

I know a few foster carers that do it as a way to "own" more animals than they really should... there needs to be VERY careful screening of potential foster carers methinks...

T.

[Tintin Jac]

That's horrendous. And now she has another dog

[trinabean]

Horrible!

[HazyWal]

That poor bloody greyhound

What a piece of shit she is

Greyhound Angels obviously didn't do a house check for foster care, it happens way too often in greyhound rescue. They are so busy "saving them all" that they don't even bother to check if the foster home is suitable.

Edited October 17, 2014 by HazyWal

[Maddy]

That poor bloody greyhound

What a piece of shit she is

Greyhound Angels obviously didn't do a house check for foster care, it happens way too often in greyhound rescue. They are so busy "saving them all" that they don't even bother to check if the foster home is suitable.

She should be banned from having any animal in her care, for life. At 14kg, that poor grey must have suffered horribly before she died

[Jed]

$50,000 fine sounds good to me. And how about a few lashes? 20 perhaps. Disgraceful to starve the poor dog to death.

Rescues need to be very careful about where dogs go - as breeders need to be careful about where pups go. Sometimes, people are not who they demonstrate to be. Regular checks are probably a good idea. I am rather bemused that rescue didn't have a system in place to do something, when the fosterer said the dog was somewhere else.

Sometimes pts at the pound is not the worst option.

[_PL_]

What a vile woman.

No idea of this rescue's policies (I'm sure Melita used to be on Dol years ago so they've been around a long while) but absolutely nobody helps you when a dog goes missing so you can do all the checks you like but when someone takes off with a dog they don't want you to find, it's gone.

[Dave-o]

If they can fine her up to $50k and imprison her for 5 years, then why can't they ban her from owning another dog!??

$50k + 5 years sounds fair to me, so that's what she should get.

What happened about the other woman who was breeding dogs in an underground container with no light and little air?

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

This vile creature shouldn't even own a pot plant in the future, there is no excuse for what she did.

[Maddy]

$50,000 fine sounds good to me. And how about a few lashes? 20 perhaps. Disgraceful to starve the poor dog to death.

Rescues need to be very careful about where dogs go - as breeders need to be careful about where pups go. Sometimes, people are not who they demonstrate to be. Regular checks are probably a good idea. I am rather bemused that rescue didn't have a system in place to do something, when the fosterer said the dog was somewhere else.

Sometimes pts at the pound is not the worst option.

Sadly, not everyone who wants to help is really suited to it and that's what some rescues don't understand. More foster carers does mean more lives saved but sometimes, it comes at the expense of quality of life for the "saved".

I've taken a greyhound (from another rescue) who was in an inexcusably terrible condition and it was obvious to me (from my very limited contact with the foster carer) that she could neither afford nor cope with the number of dogs she had. But the rescue had kept that poor dog there, slowly starving and miserable because hey, at least the dog is alive and that justifies cruelty, somehow.

[_PL_]

So sad Maddy.

[Maddy]

So sad Maddy.

The physical problems were easy enough to fix, it was the psychological damage that was really awful to see. No animal can live through that amount of stress and come out the other side unscathed by it In that dog's case, we were able to repair the damage enough to rehome (and the dog in question is now a happy dog, living in an environment where food doesn't have to be fought for) but it makes me wonder how many others are not so lucky.

I guess I always assumed other people rescued for the same reasons I did- to improve the lives (through improving the welfare) of the dogs I took in. If a rescue group is not focused on the welfare of the animals in their care, what the hell are they doing in rescue to start with?

Sometimes, I think rescue does need regulating because there's an odd double-standard whereby suffering is "okay" if the intentions behind it are/were good. For example.. if a farmer kept a seriously ill cow alive for months, putting it through invasive treatments just to squeeze a few more months of life out of it, people would be horrified. But a rescue group can put an animal through the same thing but that's okay because they're motivated by love, not profit- as if the suffering animal cares about the motivations of those making it suffer.

I've been rescuing for almost 10 years now but I have to admit, I still can't understand that. Fair enough if it improves quality of life but some cases I've seen have made the animal's last few months even more painful and stressful than before it was "saved".

And.. that got slightly off topic it's just something that bothers me a lot.

[Rebanne]

And.. that got slightly off topic it's just something that bothers me a lot.

me too

[_PL_]

And.. that got slightly off topic it's just something that bothers me a lot.

me too

Same.

I keep saying it but you do get a lot more FB likes and shares when you wring every ounce out of a sad dog. So you've got 'no kill' + emotion + ulterior motives like money and promo for your cause. I just can't look.

Off topic again

[OSoSwift]

That poor bloody greyhound

What a piece of shit she is

Greyhound Angels obviously didn't do a house check for foster care, it happens way too often in greyhound rescue. They are so busy "saving them all" that they don't even bother to check if the foster home is suitable.

She had moved - more than once. GA did everything within their power to try and get their dog back and are still trying to find out exactly what happened to her.

The dog was picked up and shortly after she moved.

[OSoSwift]

$50,000 fine sounds good to me. And how about a few lashes? 20 perhaps. Disgraceful to starve the poor dog to death.

Rescues need to be very careful about where dogs go - as breeders need to be careful about where pups go. Sometimes, people are not who they demonstrate to be. Regular checks are probably a good idea. I am rather bemused that rescue didn't have a system in place to do something, when the fosterer said the dog was somewhere else.

Sometimes pts at the pound is not the worst option.

Trust me, the dog would not have gone to her had Melita had any idea that she would not be in the very best of care. Pathological liers are extremely good at what they do. Seems she has learnt from the master as her mother has placed young grey's into her care and is defending her.

They tried everything to track her down. She said she had given her to someone else, then she had handed her into a pound and various other things. Each time they checked as much as was possible and found nothing. The dog was not in her care very long before there were issues. Melita will not stand back and allow anyone to screw her around. She did everything and still is.

Edited October 23, 2014 by OSoSwift

[Maddy]

And.. that got slightly off topic it's just something that bothers me a lot.

me too

Same.

I keep saying it but you do get a lot more FB likes and shares when you wring every ounce out of a sad dog. So you've got 'no kill' + emotion + ulterior motives like money and promo for your cause. I just can't look.

Off topic again

Pretty much. If anything, the suffering is good for those sorts of rescues because who wants to donate money to some healthy, happy dogs? Never mind that a happy dog still needs all the same vet work and basic resources as one who's had a bad start to life, it's become a competition to see who can come up with the most terrible backstory.

Best story I've heard was another dog I took from another rescue- apparently this traumatised young greyhound puppy had been used as a bait dog, was covered in wounds, starved and even had his teeth filed down to stop him from fighting back. Oh, and he'd been dumped because they were finished using him for bait. When he arrived several things were obvious: not a greyhound or a puppy and definitely not traumatised (super outgoing and friendly). His "wounds" were untreated ringworm, to go with his untreated tapeworm (he also came with some bonus KC, because why not). He was a healthy weight for his breed mix (despite the worms) and if his teeth were filed down, it was because he chewed anything/everything he could find- when he wasn't casually scaling 6 foot fences (which is how I assume he ended up in the pound to start with).

But yeah.. if you remove emotion and operate your rescue with honesty and reason, you'd better also have a job that pays well enough to cover it.

[Trisven13]

What a vile woman.

No idea of this rescue's policies (I'm sure Melita used to be on Dol years ago so they've been around a long while) but absolutely nobody helps you when a dog goes missing so you can do all the checks you like but when someone takes off with a dog they don't want you to find, it's gone.

Yep - we had a foster carer sell off puppies from a dog she was fostering. The police were involved and there was a warrant out for her arrest but only because I pushed and pushed and pushed. The carer was checked out, vouched for etc. It was my regular visits which identified that the bitch was missing and the pups had been sold.