A backyard cat breeder found guilty of animal cruelty charges has pleaded with an Adelaide magistrate not to allow the RSPCA to remove her remaining cats.
Glynne Sutcliffe, 75, was found guilty of several charges of mistreating an animal after more than 100 cats were seized from her Chandlers Hill property in 2011.
The Adelaide Magistrates Court has heard the cats were kept in appalling conditions and many had untreated medical problems including the feline AIDS virus.
RSPCA prosecutor Ronan O’Brien asked the court to impose a hefty fine and order her to pay close to $17,000 in legal costs, vet bills and boarding fees.
He also wants her banned from owning any animal.
“The conditions that the cats were living in [were] quite simply appalling,” Mr O’Brien said.
Please don’t let [my cats] go to the slaughter house.
Glynne Sutcliffe
“The defendant has not shown any remorse for the conditions at the property. She remains indifferent to the plight of the cats.
“The cats in the matter weren’t pets, they weren’t part of a rescue operation where it all got too much.
“The sole purpose of these cats were to make the defendant money — $400 a piece.”
Mr O’Brien said he would expect that a person making money from the sale of cats would look after that investment by providing adequate living conditions for them.
“She is purposefully breeding these animals to make money and yet the animals that are providing that income aren’t receiving even the most basic living conditions. This is a cat farm.”
Sutcliffe told the court she still owned about 20 cats, and pleaded with Magistrate Paul Bennett to allow her to keep them.
She said if she was forced to give up the cats, she should be allowed to sell them, not the RSPCA.
“There’s a lot of smearing, a lot of assumptions, a lot of hypocrisy,” Sutcliffe said.
“I wasn’t in it for the money. I was in it because I quite like kittens and giving them to people.
“The RSPCA has entirely ruined my life without malice.
“The notion that I was making money off cats … the RSPCA makes money any which way off animals.
“They are ruthless destroyers, they kill without mercy.
“Please don’t let [my cats] go to the slaughter house.”
She has promised to appeal against her conviction in the Supreme Court before being sentenced next month.
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