A 41-year-old Port Kennedy man has been ordered to pay more than $17,000 after failing to feed his six-year-old horse, leaving her emaciated.
In December 2025, RSPCA WA inspectors went to Gregory James Garrett’s Bouvard property after receiving a report about a mare named Daisy who appeared emaciated with no access to food, water or shelter.
Garrett told inspectors the horse had become ill after eating weeds about a month prior but was now “on the mend”.
She had not been seen by a vet and Garrett said he and a neighbour had given Daisy ginger and warm water to help her digestive system.
While at the property, the inspectors noted Daisy was lethargic, with the outline of her ribs, hip bones and spine prominent.
They couldn’t see any hay in the paddocks, the hay shed was empty apart from small remnants on the floor, and the feed shed contained just a handful of horse muesli in a tub and empty horse feed bags.
The inspectors seized Daisy due to suspected offences of animal cruelty and took her to a vet clinic for immediate assessment.
She weighed just 363kg, when a typical healthy adult mare should weigh between 400kg and 550kg. Her body condition score was 2/9 (5 being optimal).
The vet reported that no single underlying medical condition was identified that would account for Daisy’s severe loss of body condition and that, based on the clinical findings, diagnostic investigations, and absence of significant disease, the most likely cause of her emaciated state was chronic malnutrition.
Daisy stayed under vet care for 11 days and gained 15kgs in that short space of time. She was then placed with a foster carer and has now fully recovered.
RSPCA WA inspector manager Kylie Green said she woud never get used to seeing emaciated animals.
“It’s impossible to comprehend how anyone could see Daisy in the state she was in and either think that’s okay, or know it’s not okay but do nothing about it,” she said.
“To think of poor Daisy standing in those bare paddocks day after day, starving but with nothing to eat is just heartbreaking.
“Daisy, like all animals, deserves better. They rely on us to look after them properly and if we can’t, to ask for help from someone who can.”
Appearing at Mandurah Magistrates Court last Tuesday, Garrett was convicted of one count of cruelty to animals and was fined $4200.
He was also ordered to pay $12,815 in care and legal costs. Along with his forfeiture of Daisy, Garrett was also banned from being in charge of horses for three years.
The maximum penalty for an animal cruelty conviction in WA is a $50,000 fine and five years’ imprisonment.