Dogs kept in 'putrid' conditions

Auckland animal welfare officers yesterday said there was no excuse for the "appalling and putrid" conditions in which a farmer kept his five working dogs.

Allan Smurthwaite, a farmer and tiler, has been fined $1200 after pleading guilty in Pukekohe District Court to five charges of ill-treating an animal. The SPCA prosecuted Smurthwaite after a complaint from a member of the public. MORE>>