Woman told she 'doesn't deserve' to own a dog after she admits to 'bashing' it

Kerria-Lee Marsh-Wheeler, from Fitzroy Street Dubbo, pleaded guilty to destroy or damage property and commit an act of cruelty upon an animal at Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday, April 17.

Court documents state at 5.39pm on January 7, 2024, CCTV from Narromine Auto Repairs shows Marsh-Wheeler and another engaged in a heated argument out the front on the footpath.

During this argument, the person is seen walking up to Marsh-Wheeler - who was walking a dog on a leash.

The person picks up the dog, removes the leash and throws it in Marsh-Wheeler's face, before turning and walking south along Dandaloo Street.

Marsh-Wheeler throws the leash back at the person, which misses and lands in the front yard of Narromine Auto Repairs.

Marsh-Wheeler is then seen walking up to the business and punching the window, smashing it. The window was completely destroyed.

She then grabs the leash and continues walking down Dandaloo Street.

At 5.47pm the owner of Narromine Auto Repairs received a call from their security monitoring company advising that a glass break sensor was going off at the business.

The owner drove to their business and checked CCTV footage before going to Narromine Police Station to report someone had smashed the front window of their business.

When reviewing Narromine Council CCTV of the incident, police saw that while Marsh-Wheeler was walking the dog, she was aggressively dragging it along the path by the leash. She is then seen picking up the dog by pulling the leash very hard.

She then picks up the dog by the neck and shakes it vigorously before dropping the small dog from a height instead of placing it on the ground.

She is then seen hitting the dog a number of times.

On Thursday, January 18, 2024 police attended a Fitzroy Street address for an unrelated incident. Police activated body-worn cameras and placed Marsh-Wheeler under arrest.

Police noticed dog poo scattered throughout the house and wrote in their report that they were "convinced any animal in the care of Marsh-Wheeler is deemed unsafe".

She told police she was fully aware of the reason behind her arrest.

She said, "I had a mental breakdown, I started bashing my dog and everything".

Marsh-Wheeler's solicitor told the court these were serious matters but she had no record and was very young.

"She doesn't want the stigma that comes from animal cruelty charges," she said.

Magistrate Gary Wilson said, "well, she did it".

"Ms Marsh-Wheeler, reading what the police say about how you treated your dog - dragging it along, pulling it up hard, dropping it from a height and hitting it numerous times - someone who treats an animal like that, doesn't deserve to own one," he said.

He went on to ask why a dog deserves that kind of treatment after a mental breakdown.

"Have you still got the dog? I'm surprised no one took it off you," he said.

Marsh-Wheeler was fined $1000.