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A family has spent $15,000 for a top barrister to defend their daughter on animal cruelty charges after she locked her poodle-cross in a hot car.
The SPCA charged Jessica Lovatt, 18, under the Animal Welfare Act after she left Toby - a 4-year-old Spoodle - in a car in Blockhouse Bay, Auckland, while she and a friend drank coffee at a cafe on an "extremely hot and humid" January afternoon.
After complaints from members of the public, an SPCA inspector broke into Lovatt's Subaru Impreza and, according to the organisation's summary, "when the glass shattered, a heat wave that emanated from the interior of the vehicle was so hot that it caused the SPCA inspector's glasses to heat up".
When Lovatt returned to the car the officer, David Lloyd-Barker, said: "Perhaps you would like to imagine how it would feel to be in an oven that's getting hotter and hotter, wearing a fur coat, with no exit." He told her that her actions were abhorrent.
In court last week, the Massey University student's lawyer, Anthony Rogers, filed affidavits saying Lovatt was a caring pet owner with a good character.
Judge Josephine Bouchier described Lovatt's behaviour as "thoughtless" and remarked: "A useful maxim I have always taught is that animals should come first." She ordered Lovatt to pay about $650 to the SPCA but discharged her without conviction, saying the consequences of a conviction outweighed her offending.
Lovatt - who is studying vocal jazz - said she had seen the "other side of the SPCA", which "treated me badly".
She told the Herald on Sunday that on January 11 when she and her friend Bronwyn took Toby to Blockhouse Bay she should have provided ventilation for the dog, rather than leave him in the car for more than an hour with the windows sealed. "I did actually think about going to get Toby out but he is quite excitable and I decided it was best if he stayed in the car."
Lovatt's parents, Martin and Joyanne, said the court process had been expensive and "a real eye opener".
"It has been a huge reality check, seeing life on the other side. It's amazing the slices of life that you see in court," Martin Lovatt, a graphic designer, said.
Joyanne, a kindergarten teacher, added: "This has gone on for six months and now all we want is to just return to life in the suburbs."
Martin Lovatt said it was unlikely he would donate to the SPCA in the future because of "their determined nature to get a conviction for a young person". He had met Lloyd-Barker shortly after the incident to discuss the possibility of the SPCA withdrawing the charges.
"He told me the SPCA should be prosecuting people in South Auckland who really mistreat their animals," Lloyd-Barker, SPCA's acting general manager, said. "I am sure she is a lovely pet owner but the simple fact is all the windows were shut up and a dog can die in 10 minutes. The SPCA has a zero tolerance of this kind of thing."
The SPCA says prosecutions for animal cruelty so far this year are up 300 per cent on last year, with around 35 cases having already made it to court.
