Cork Woman convicted of 12 animal cruelty charges banned from owning animals walks away with minimal €250 fine

One has to question what in the absolute hell is wrong with the judiciary in this country? Does the Irish government not give a damn about Animal Welfare? Our judges certainly do not and this has been evidenced time and time again and most recently in Bandon District court this week, where a cork woman convicted of 12 counts of animal cruelty, received a 250 euro fine. A €250 fine? What an absolute utter joke!

The judges on these benches could wipe their arse with €250, it means that little to them. Is it a case in this absolute corrupt system of justice, that pleading guilty, gets you off the hook?

Case Background:

So, let’s give some context on this here: Miriam Santry of The Meadows, Belgooly, Co Cork was banned from owning animals and ordered to surrender any animals in her possession to the ISPCA after being guilty on kept over than a dozen dogs of various breeds in “Horrendous conditions” over an extended period. Ms Santry appeared before Bandon District Court facing a total of 12 summonses for alleged offences under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. Santry pleaded guilty to the charges in front of Judge Philip O’Leary.

In evidence, ISPCA Inspector Caroline Faherty said, she had first received complaints regarding the defendent in September 2022. The complaints were in relatio to the conditions dogs were being kept in at two properties, one in Belgooly and the other in Kinsale.

Insp. Faherty told the court that she went to both properties on several occasions but was unable to make contact with Santry. The house in Belgooly she could see the house was full of rubbish and several dogs could be heard barking. On September 21, 2022 Inspector Faherty received a letter from a solicitor representing Santry asking her not to call to her properties anymore.

In October 2022, The ISPCA was alerted to further animal cruelty breaches by Santry after she brought a dog with a broken pelvis to the local vet. Santry told the vet that she had tried to mate the seven-month-old poodle with a bigger dog but refused the vet’s advice on treatment and asked for painkillers for the injured dog.

Search Warrant executed on 22nd December 2022

A search warrant to search both properties was executed on December 22, 2022 by Insp. Faherty executed a warrant to search both properties. She told the court that she gained access to the Belgooly property via the back garden and nobody was present when she arrived with gardaí. Inside she found eight adult dogs in deplorable conditions jammed into a small crate which had a capacity for 2 dogs maximum. She said that the property was filled with rubbish and the smell was so rancid that the gardaí were unable to come inside. Insp. Faherty told the court that a further five puppies were also found in two crates. No food or water available to any of the dogs and they were in very poor condition.. No natural light was possible as the windows were blacked out and there was faeces and urine over the floor. The dogs were malnourished and their coats were matted with urine and faeces. The dogs also variously suffered multiple infections, including Demartitis, ear and eye infections and a number of dogs had heart murmurs. Upon inspection of the address in Kinsale, three further dogs were found in similar conditions.

Insp. Faherty said a decision was taken to seize the dogs and attempt to rehome them as they were subject to long term neglect The court heard that four of the dogs, which were chipped with Santry’s details could not be rehomed as Santry refused to surrender the animals to the ISPCA. As a result, they had been kept in boarding kennels since being seized resulting in a cost to the ISPCA of €56,000.

Mental health issues

Defence solicitor Plunkett Taaffe said that his client, who was now in her 50s, had recently suffered from mental health issues. He said that the situation had “got out of control” and his client acknowledged that she had taken on too many dogs. He said she was of “limited means and was struggling financially and mentally”.

State solicitor for West Cork, Jeremiah Healy, who took the prosecution on behalf of the Minster for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine said that State felt it was necessary to prosecute given the circumstances and extend of animal cruelty involved.

Conviction

Judge Philip O’Leary said that it was clear from the evidence there had been an appalling treatment of animals over a considerable period of time, he said it was an appalling case. On the first summons he convicted and fined Miriam Santry €250 and took the other 11 charges into consideration. He prohibited her from owning any animals and ordered her to surrender any animals she currently owns to the ISPCA.

Call for overhaul of animal welfare legislation and the courts system in Ireland:

This case is a prime example of why we need a complete overhaul in Ireland of animal welfare regulations and why we need animal welfare officers in every Garda division throughout Ireland. For too long, disgusting and cruel people like Miriam Santry have been allowed to treat these beautiful dogs with such cruelty and walk away without significant punishment. While Santry is prohibited from owning any animals and must surrender all animals she owns to the ISPCA, she walked away with one single conviction – on the first summons. Of the remaining 11 charges, Judge Philip O Leary, took these charges into consideration, Santry did not receive any fines or convictions for these remaining 11 charges.

I’ll speak freely and ask here what the absolute fuck is wrong with the judiciary in this country? If this was Italy, Sweden, Japan, Tanazania, Austria, or Kenya, all of whom have a stellar record for protecting animals, this woman would be in prison. She would have incurred the boarding kennelcosts that are instead inflicted on the ISPCA, she would have incurred legal costs. Instead, while she may be no longer permitted to keep animals, she walks away with a €250 fine. She pled guilty to all 12 charges, and she still walks away pretty much scot free and all because she pled guilty in a country where we have a broken system where saying “Oh Yes I did commit those unspeakable acts” is actually rewarded.

We’ve seen it in so many high profile cases lately in terms of humans, where humans plead guilty to assault and other serious crimes are given suspended sentences because of either who they are, who they know or what they do. Quite often, they have “glowing character references” from people in very influential positions and our judges take pity on them. A criminal is still a criminal and a scumbag – it doesn’t matter what character references you have and it doesn’t matter if you’re an army officer or an all star Limerick hurler. If you assault another person, if you beat up someone in a nightclub, if you beat up a defenseless woman on the streets, sorry but there is no excuse for that, you’re a total scumbag and you belong in prison – you don’t deserve to get a suspended sentence and walk free from court.

Equally, if you treat a dog, or a horse or a cat or any other animal with the same regard, if you treat them in such a fashion that their hair is matted in their own faeces, you’re a scumbag. Many of us have mental health issues, we don’t take it out on our animals. In fact its our dogs and our animals that more often than not help us through these times of mental anguish.

The problem in Ireland is not just in the courts, It’s the entire system, it’s how we allow our animals to be treated – The system stinks the whole way up to the ministers who have responsibility for animal regulations – the ministers for agriculture and rural and community development. In 95% of animal welfare cases, The judges are too lenient, the defence solicitors only give a crap about their paycheck and have zero concern about the harm being done to our beloved animals and the bottom line is other than the hard working staff and animal welfare inspectors in societies like the DSPCA, and the dedicated volunteers in so many rescues throughout Ireland, nobody in a position of power that can do something to influence change actually gives a shit about animal welfare in this country.