Janine Marion, 47, pleaded not guilty to charges of committing an act of cruelty on an animal and failing to comply with an court order re the possession of animals in Nowra Local Court.

During the course of sentencing, Magistrate Fleming told Marion she was mistaken about what constituted an “animal lover”. 

“These represent your 25th and 26^th offences contrary to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (NSW) 1979, you need to get over the idea that you are an animal lover because these animals were in dark, overcrowded, filthy conditions,” Magistrate Fleming said. 

In 2013 Marion had previously been convicted on a number of charges including failing to provide proper and sufficient food to an animal, being in control of an animal and failing to provide veterinary treatment and confining an animal in a cage with insufficient room for exercise.

At the time Magistrate Michael Stoddart ordered she not possess or take possession of or acquire any animals for five years but between November 2016 and May 2017, she took control of five puppies.

In a case brought by the RSPCA, court documents said between May 19 and May 26, 2017 in Nowra, Marion had a number of dogs under her care in overcrowded, wet, dark, filthy conditions causing distress.

On Friday 26 May 2017, local police, an RSPCA NSW Inspector and two Shoalhaven rangers attended the Nowra property after receiving a report of animals being unattended for a number of days.

The RSPCA Inspector said the house was in disrepair with rubbish everywhere and a strong stench of urine and faeces. It was very dark despite being the middle of the day and nine dogs were racing around, confined to the dark verandah.

Several attempts were made to contact Ms. Marion. On Thursday, June 1 the RSPCA again attended the property and finding no one home but the seizure notice gone, another sticker was left.

On Friday, June 2 contact was made with Ms. Marion who told the Inspector “You know they’re my dogs”.

When asked if she was the owner of the nine dogs, she replied, “Well, no, I own the two, you know, big ones, and the other two (poodles) yes, well you know they’re not mine anymore. And the pups I’m looking after for three weeks.”

When asked if she was the person in charge of the nine dogs, she replied:

“Well, no, I fed them before I left.”

When asked about the Prohibition Order, she replied, “But I thought that was until August. The pups were only there for three weeks. The owner couldn’t look after them.”

Magistrate Gabriel Fleming convicted Marion on both charges, fining her $2000, with a portion to go to the RSPCA, placed her on a two-year good behaviour bond and banned her from owning animals for 10 years, except for two desexed dogs she already had, a tan and brindle labrador retriever cross staffy called Zeva and a tan and black Labrador retriever called Libby.

The other dogs were re-claimed by their various legal owners. The owners of the puppies subsequently decided to surrender them to the RSPCA and they have all since been rehomed with loving families.

RSPCA NSW Chief Operating Officer Andrew Clachers commented on the sentence.

“While it might be difficult to understand why a Magistrate would allow a repeat offender to keep two dogs, when it comes to cases of animal hoarding there can be very complex mental health issues at play.

“A blanket prohibition would be setting someone up to fail, whilst limiting the number of animals is about harm minimisation.

“We have observed good animal welfare outcomes and changed offender behaviour where convicted animal hoarders are restricted to small numbers of animals with strict identification, inspection, veterinary monitoring and reporting requirements. It’s always a difficult line to walk between human welfare and animal welfare.

“There are lots of resources available for people that might be struggling with looking after their animals. The RSPCA runs programs aimed at helping people with financial hardship, mental illness, or those feeling overwhelmed.”