A woman has been fined more than $2000 and ordered to do community service after failing to get her kitten treated for an eye infection which eventually left the animal half blind.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said the kitten's ruptured eyeball was noticed when the South Auckland woman took the animal to a vet to get it de-sexed.
It said Genevieve Ford had left the animal's infection untreated for two months, claiming she could not afford the surgery. However, she would not give it up to SPCA.
The organisation said doing nothing and hoping the problem would go away was utterly unacceptable.
Ford was convicted of ill-treating an animal, given 60 hours' community service and ordered to pay reparation of $2250 when she appeared in the Manukau District Court on Friday.
