A man has been granted bail on animal cruelty charges following the discovery of 22 dead animals on a property outside Melbourne on Sunday.
A further 22 horses were found severely ill and malnourished on the farm at Bulla, 30km north-west of Melbourne, on Sunday.
Bruce Akers, 63, appeared via videolink at the Broadmeadows magistrates court on Monday charged with 92 animal cruelty and criminal damage offences.
The court heard Akers had told police he would return and shoot the horses that had survived. Akers also pleaded with officers to shoot him when he was arrested, and said he did not have the means to feed the horses, the court heard.
Prosecutor Sgt Jim Currell told the court police found piles of dead horses at the Bulla property when they went on Sunday to investigate a reported foul smell and a horse with its legs in the air.
The numerous piles of bodies were in different stages of decay, Currell said.
Some horses still alive were so badly malnourished they had a body scale of zero – the lowest possible scale before a horse dies, he said.
Akers was arrested in Sunbury on Monday and, during discussions with police, told them he would return home and kill the remaining animals, the court heard.
Akers’s lawyer Emily Buchanan applied for bail, saying her client had many psychological and physical conditions that would make it difficult for him in custody. His mental state was so bad that he had asked officers to shoot him when he was arrested, Buchanan told the court.
She argued the horses’ deaths were not because of neglect.
“His role was to feed and care for the former racehorses and while he noticed they were looking emaciated, he didn’t have the means to help them,” Buchanan said.
An RSPCA spokeswoman said earlier it was an “appalling situation”.
“It is a tragedy that animals would be left to suffer in this way. Our immediate concern today is the welfare of the remaining horses on that property and our inspectors will ensure these animals receive care.”
Caroline Lofts, who discovered the horses, told the ABC the scene was “horrific”.
“There was not a blade of grass, it was just dusty. There [were] piles of decaying bones, white bones, so they’ve obviously been there a long time,” she said.
“In the initial scene there were about 10 carcasses in various stages of decomposing. It was just horrendous.”
The RSPCA said it was dealing with horses in “dire conditions” and at “unprecedented levels”
In the past two months the RSPCA had seized more horses than at any other time in its 140-year history, a spokeswoman said.
RSPCA Victoria received a preliminary report on 22 March that there was a horse on the property without sufficient feed.
“We regret that this report didn’t accurately describe the situation that was uncovered yesterday and that observations from outside the property did not reveal the true extent of what lay within,” the RSPCA said in a statement.
“The owner of this property is known to the RSPCA and the property is one which is not to be attended without police support for safety reasons.”
The RSPCA received a call from a member of the public on Sunday that provided detailed information about the condition of horses, the statement said, including that some were dead and one was in very poor condition requiring immediate care. The RSPCA immediately contacted police. They attended the property with a vet, who was forced to euthanise the horse that was in a critical condition. They found many other horses either malnourished or already dead.
“Our 17 inspectors are tasked with responding to more than 11,000 reports of animal cruelty each year and rely on those making these reports to be as specific as possible in order for us to prioritise our response accordingly,” the RSPCA said.
“Our inspectors are dealing with horses in dire conditions and at unprecedented levels. The demand for our inspectors is outstripping our capacity to respond, so we look to other empowered agencies, such as the police, to provide support,” the RSPCA said.
A spokesman for the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorse, Ward Young, agreed that an increasing number of horses were being neglected or relinquished, especially as the cost of feeding them increased. He said the man charged with abusing the horses was a former racehorse trainer.
“We have reports from a lot of the horse groups that we talk to that a changing climate has left less feed on the land due to farms suffering drought,” Ward said.
“And when people don’t have enough grass they have to buy hay, which is becoming incredibly expensive. We’ve heard anecdotally from horse slaughtermen that their business is booming. They say there are more and more horses that are being discarded because they’re just too expensive to feed.”
Ward has called upon the state government to set up an independent office of annual welfare, charged with investigating all reports of animal cruelty.
“Rather than leaving it all to the RSPCA, which is a charity with limited resources, we need a minister and a department of animal welfare to allocate the government resources to address this issue,” he said. “It is a conflict of interest to have the minister for agriculture overseeing this, given that is the person also in charge of examining how animals can be used for profit.”
Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986, anyone causing pain and suffering to an animal by leaving the animal without water, food and shade faces 12 months’ imprisonment, up to $37,310 in fines and a possible 10-year or lifetime ban from owning an animal.
Causing death or serious disablement as a result of neglect carries a penalty of a possible two years’ imprisonment, up to $74,620 in fines and a possible 10-year or lifetime ownership ban.
