'Callous' woman threw pet dog Princess from 30ft drop during row with boyfriend - then told vet to put her down
20 December 2023, 10:56
A woman has been jailed after throwing her dog off a two-storey car park then telling a vet it should be put down because treatment would be too expensive.
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Shocking CCTV screengrabs captured the moment Amy Lea Judge threw her pet from 30ft at the Westfield shopping centre in Perth, Western Australia.
Princess, aged 10, a Maltese/shih-tzu cross, was discovered alive by a member of the public who thought she had been hit by a car.
But the animal suffered severe injuries, including suspected internal haemorrhaging, brain injury and trauma to the spine and pelvis.
She was taken to a vet who contacted Judge and boyfriend Scott Frost after getting their details through the dog's microchip.
They decided to have their pet put down due to the costs of treatment.
But police later found the CCTV footage showing Judge, 26, hurl the dog off the car park after a row with Frost in April 2022.
She had dangled Princess repeatedly over the side of the car park across eight minutes during the argument.
Judge later wrote on social media: "I can't live with the guilt, I threw my dog off the top story of a shopping centre car park and watched her fall to her death but she survived and needed to be put down due to how badly I injured her, all the damage I caused.
"... I killed my dog, I need the truth out in the open, it's... tearing me apart, I can't live with the lies anymore".
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She claimed she "did her a favour because all I did was hurt her and abuse her" and could "put my mind at ease knowing I no longer have to live with all the... lies".
Judge was given 12 months in jail for animal cruelty and other matters, and was banned from owning an animal for 10 years.
Australian magistrate Mark Millington said Judge had "planned" what she did and said she showed a lack of remorse, trying to shift the blame to Frost.
Inspector manager Kylie Green, from RSPCA Western Australia, said: "This case was one of the most distressing I've seen in my 11 years as an inspector and was a callous and extremely confronting display of animal cruelty.
"Dogs can be so trusting, and they rely on their owners to keep them safe. I can't think of a more disgusting betrayal of that trust.
"Today's outcome delivers some justice for the pain and terror poor Princess endured in her final hours.
"I hope it also sends a clear message to the community that intentional cruelty towards animals is extremely serious and won't be tolerated."
Earlier this year, Frost, 23, was fined A$2,500 (£1,345) and banned from owning animals for three years.
