Serial animal cruelty offender Kon Petropoulos has faced sentencing in the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court over the abuse of a dog named Toby.
The 63-year-old, who has a history of breaching court orders and avoiding paying fines, was accused during the proceedings of attempting to conceal his residential address to avoid oversight by authorities.
Prosecutor Krystyna Grinberg told the court Petropoulos was “seeking to hide his address from the RSPCA,” after inspectors found he did not live at the residence provided by his lawyer, Tim Smurthwaite.
Smurthwaite then said Petropoulos had been staying with a friend while looking after a Jack Russell terrier. However, the address given was a rooming house with 24 individual rooms and a no-pets policy.
“It’s just implausible that if Mr Petropoulos is living there as he says, that the supervisor that also lives at the property would not know of him,” Grinberg said, adding that Petropoulos’ living arrangements “appear to be a lie”.
The court heard Toby was assessed by authorities in 2021 and they found him to be underweight, suffering laboured breathing and infections. He also had lumps on his body that would have taken months to develop. The dog was ultimately euthanised.
Magistrate Mark Stratmann described the cruelty as “egregious” and the animal’s suffering as “extreme”.
Petropoulos attended the hearing virtually, citing medical problems which limit his mobility. Magistrate Stratmann said insufficient medical evidence had been provided. The prosecution questioned this claim, noting Petropoulos was still able to pick up his children from school.
The court was told Petropoulos had previously failed to pay multiple fines related to earlier animal cruelty offences, with a record of prior offences spanning 68 pages.
Petropoulos was convicted, fined $3500 and placed on a 12-month community corrections order requiring 200 hours of community work. He was also permanently banned from owning or being in charge of all animals.
As part of the order, Petropoulos must provide his address to enable the RSPCA to monitor the ban.
Source: Herald Sun
