A Holbrook man accused of letting five farm dogs starve to death over five weeks plus the serious neglect of three others will try to avoid prosecution through claims of mental illness.
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Mental health was the excuse offered to Albury Local Court for Alex James Smith's non-appearance at his case's first mention date of July 22.
When the matter went before the court this week, the court was told that a psychiatric report would be sought on the 26-year-old.
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The 10 charges laid against Smith were adjourned to September 3, when it is expected that his lawyer will submit an application under Section 32 of the Mental Health Act.
This section gives the court power to divert an accused deemed to be suffering from a mental health condition from the judicial system.
Instead, they are put into the care of mental health professionals.
Such applications are commonplace in the Local Court, but many do not succeed due to the tight legal framework applied to meeting the criteria for mental illness.
Smith is being prosecuted by the RSPCA, which investigated the circumstances of the allegedly neglected dogs that were found in individual cages on Smith's eight-hectare Holbrook property.
The dogs involved were kept in eight cages. The offending is alleged to have occurred between June 18 and July 25, 2018.
Smith is charged with five counts of committing an act of cruelty upon an animal in that he failed to provide a dog with proper and sufficient food and drink.
The particulars of the charge further state that this in turn caused hunger, distress, dehydration "and an emaciated body condition" that, when coupled with a lack of necessary veterinary care, resulted in death.
The dogs that died were four border collies and a red heeler.
It is further alleged that Smith failed to provide food and veterinary care to three other border collies.
One had a lame hind limb and a 2-centimetre ulceration of its tail, while another was found with "general muscular wastage, flea dirt and (an) ulceration" on a front limb.
