A 70-year-old West Australian man, Geoffrey Cecil Wilfred Doust, has been ordered to pay nearly $19,000 in fines and restitution after shooting a neighbor’s horse on February 20.
The incident occurred when Doust spotted two horses and a llama owned by his neighbor, Belinda Eaton, on his property in Hamelin Bay, about 310 kilometers south of Perth.
Doust chased the animals away with his vehicle, but one horse stumbled and was hit, prompting Doust to shoot it three times in the head with a rifle. He then buried the horse, named Viking, in a lime sand pit on his property. The second horse, Dasha, suffered a leg injury and later had to be euthanized.
Eaton, distressed by the loss of her horses, reported the incident to police, who took Doust in for questioning. He admitted to killing and burying Viking and later pleaded guilty to damaging Eaton’s property, though a charge of making threats was dropped.
Magistrate William Yoo noted Eaton’s victim impact statement highlighted the emotional toll of the loss, describing it as “pretty devastating.” Doust’s lawyer acknowledged Eaton’s pain but disputed claims of torture, suggesting a history of conflicts between the neighbors over the horses.
Ultimately, Doust was sentenced to pay just under $16,000 in restitution and a $3,000 fine. He will also be subject to a restraining order. The court considered Doust’s lack of prior convictions and his early guilty plea, which earned him a discount on the penalty.
While the RSPCA investigated the case, they referred it to police, indicating that Doust could have faced animal cruelty charges, which carry much harsher penalties.
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