PAGE administrators of the Facebook site Save the Penderlea Horses are closing it down until further notice after it was used as a mitigating factor in a court ruling this week.
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The decision to close down the page was posted on Thursday night after the BDN’s reporting on a Bega District Court matter.
District Court Judge Robison referred to the page’s supporters as “vigilante protesters” and “cyber-bullies” when upholding an appeal over a Bega Valley horse owner’s animal cruelty conviction.
Janice Northey was convicted on 54 counts of animal cruelty earlier this year.
However, she was not in court at the time and applied for an annulment, which was rejected.
An appeal against that annulment was heard in Bega District Court on Wednesday.
Ms Northey’s solicitor argued her non-appearance in court on the day of her hearing and sentencing was in part due to mental health issues exacerbated by fear of intimidation by those using the Save the Penderlea Horses Facebook page.
One of the page’s administrators, Lara Fanning, spoke with the BDN in the wake of the judge’s ruling.
She said she never intended the page to be used as a way to intimidate the owner or delay court proceedings, and said she will be deactivating it until any updates to the case are forthcoming.
“We really don’t want to hinder the investigation and court case,” Ms Fanning said.
“We just want the horses cared for.”
Ms Fanning said she and her fellow page admins had endeavoured to keep the focus on the animals’ welfare and keeping pressure on the RSPCA to conduct investigations – banning references to the owner’s name and requesting page supporters refrain from personal attacks.
“We discouraged any sort of protest and the comment referred to in court was made by a supporter,” Ms Fanning said.
“She used the words ‘peaceful’ and ‘silent’, but we messaged her to say we didn’t want to have any protest made so as not to intimidate the owner.
“I’m sure that’s not what she meant to happen, she is just a passionate supporter.
“It’s hard to control what people say – people get really passionate about horses particularly,” Ms Fanning said.
“But it’s great to see so many people wanting to ensure the welfare and care of animals – I just hope they could be a little more filtered in their comments.”
Ms Northey will now reappear in Bega Local Court at a date to be confirmed to face allegations of animal cruelty.
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