Mosgiel man fined $ 2,000 for drowning eight feral cats

A Mosgiel man was fined $ 2,000 for drowning eight feral cats.

Donald Glen Macdonald (62) appeared in Dunedin District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to killing an animal that caused unreasonable suffering or unnecessary pain.

Judge Michael Turner said the case underscores a “common misconception” in the community.

“Their offense stems from ignorance that drowning is appropriate and humane,” he said.

“You need to send a message to the public that it is not.”

As much as the sentence hurts, attorney Sarah Saunderson-Warner said, the publicity would be a punishment in itself.

Macdonald was working the night shift at a recycling plant in Mosgiel on September 23 of last year.

Ms. Saunderson-Warner said the man’s employer had purchased two traps and said he wanted the cats to “go away by the end of the week.”

There were no instructions on how the animals should be euthanized, he told the court.

According to court documents, Macdonald would take the cat-containing traps and submerge them in a large blue plastic container filled with water.

He would return a few minutes later, remove the trap, and dispose of the corpse along the property line.

Over the course of one night, Macdonald killed eight cats, the court heard.

Three days later, the SPCA was informed of the defendant’s actions by one of his colleagues and executed a search warrant the following day.

A veterinarian performed an autopsy on six of the cats.

Three of them were found to be pregnant, with a total of 11 kittens.

The vet said the drowning was inhumane because it took the animal a significant amount of time to lose consciousness and suffered “severe distress.”

It took minutes instead of seconds to cause death, they said.

Crown prosecutor Richard Smith, on behalf of the SPCA, accepted that Macdonald had immediately pleaded guilty and was “fully cooperative” with investigators.

When questioned, the defendant said that drowning was the only method he could think of when it came to killing cats.

He accepted that he should have given more thought to his actions.

Ms. Saunderson-Warner said her client had worked his entire life without disciplinary problems.

He had received a formal written warning for last year’s conduct, but remained at the same job, he said.

Judge Turner accepted that Macdonald’s actions were not excessively brutal or insensitive.

In addition to the fine, which would go to the SPCA, the defendant was ordered to pay $ 610 in costs and repairs.