A 45-year-old man who allegedly tried to castrate a 3.5-month-old goat with a cable tie and dehorned him with a saw has been charged with animal cruelty.
The horrific alleged acts were discovered by an RSPCA WA inspector who attended a property in Perth’s southeast on January 2 to conduct a welfare check on the goat after receiving a report of animal cruelty.
The inspector saw the goat’s scrotum had a black cable tie around it, and his horns appeared to have been cut very short.
The accused man told the inspector that he had placed a cable tie around the goat’s scrotum to castrate him after finding the method online and that he had not consulted a vet.
The inspector also noticed the goat’s testicles appeared white in colour and were swollen and cold to touch.
There was a pus-type discharge around the cable tie and dried blood and fluid down the goat’s leg.
The accused also told the inspector that he had dehorned the goat by using a saw.
He said he made a paste of aspirin and rubbed it on the goat’s horns for the pain.
The inspector seized the goat from a property in the Perth suburb of Cloverdale and transported him to the Animal Care Centre where vets immediately noted a strong odour of necrotic tissue.
The goat was suffering severe pain from the castration attempt and subsequent necrosis.
He was also suffering from his horns being cut off too short, which exposed soft tissue and caused bleeding.
Vets at the Animal Care Centre performed emergency surgery to remove the goat’s testicles to avoid potential septicaemia and it was later confirmed his scrotum and the right side of his face were infected.
The accused has been charged under section 19(1) and 19(2)(e) of the Animal Welfare Act 2002.
It’s alleged that he was cruel to an animal in that he caused the goat unnecessary harm by trying to sterilise and dehorn it himself, and it was not properly treated by a vet.
The charge will be heard in the Perth Magistrates Court on June 7.
The maximum penalty for a charge of animal cruelty is a $50,000 fine and five years in prison.