A couple from North-West Sydney has been convicted of animal cruelty offences for a second time after pleading guilty to eight offences contrary to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 (NSW) (POCTAA): three counts of failing to provide veterinary treatment, two counts of committing an act of cruelty, one count of failing to comply with a disposal order, and two counts of failing to comply with a disqualification order.
Appearing in Windsor Local Court on 14 November 2025, the two defendants were convicted and sentenced to concurrent Community Correction Orders ranging from nine months to two years in duration. Three offences were dealt with by way of convictions with no other penalty. The Court imposed new disqualification orders that prohibit the defendants from owning or having anything to do with the keeping or care of animals for 10 years, though an exception was allowed for one senior dog that has been identified to RSPCA NSW. The defendants must also forfeit all animals in their care, subject to the same exception. Animal care costs were awarded to RSPCA NSW totalling $20,000 per defendant.
RSPCA NSW first prosecuted the couple in 2020 for offences relating to their operation of a self-declared animal rescue group in Freemans Reach. Those proceedings saw the defendants handed five-year disqualification orders in 2022, with an exception for up to two dogs each if desexing, microchipping and registration criteria were met.
The recent prosecution arises from RSPCA NSW investigations between October 2024 and May 2025. In October 2024, an RSPCA NSW Inspector was attending an adjoining property when they noticed a strong smell of excrement and dozens of dogs within a fenced area that looked to be housed in unsuitable conditions.
They met the defendants, who claimed the dogs were part of an animal rescue group belonging to another person.
A team of Inspectors accompanied by NSW Police later executed a search warrant at the property, where they found a total of 73 dogs. The dogs showed a range of systemic illnesses and were housed in conditions that were too small, squalid, overcrowded, without fresh water and/or designed for temporary confinement, which unreasonably caused suffering and distress.
A number of dogs were confined in small and overcrowded conditions.
RSPCA NSW seized 71 dogs for the provision of immediate veterinary treatment and in connection with suspected offences against POCTAA. Of the two dogs that remained at the property, one could not safely be caught and the other fell within the exemption to the defendants’ disqualification orders.
Following veterinary examinations, it was determined that:
- 47 dogs had required treatment for various internal and external parasites, with 24 of them needing it for at least three months
- Six dogs had required treatment for dental disease for at least four weeks
- One dog had required treatment for skin disease for at least three weeks
- Five dogs were matted which resulted in them being unreasonably inflicted with pain and suffering
- 55 dogs had been housed in conditions that unreasonably caused them suffering and distress
Subsequent inquiries with a third-party rescue group confirmed that the defendants were fostering 53 of their dogs, but that 20-30 dogs were already on the property prior to their arrival.
Inspectors executed another search warrant at the defendants’ property in May 2025 after receiving a new cruelty complaint. Fifteen dogs were found in the defendants’ care and, again, all but one were kept in breach of the defendants’ existing disqualification orders. Two of the dogs had been seized by RSPCA NSW in October and rehomed to third parties, who subsequently returned the animals to the defendants.
“To see so many dogs crammed in soiled enclosures and left without fresh water was incredibly distressing,” an Inspector involved in the matter said.
“The fact this couple were under a disqualification order at the time made the situation all the more frustrating.”
RSPCA NSW would like to remind the community that if you have any concerns about an animal’s welfare, please call our cruelty hotline on 1300 278 3589.
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