A horse trainer has been convicted of dumping dead horses at a conservation park south of Adelaide despite lawyers urging the judge to spare his reputation.
Trevor Lionel Day, 47, admitted three counts of unlawful disposal of waste in the Environment, Resources and Development Court.
Judge Jack Costello on Tuesday imposed a fine of $3600 and ordered him to pay costs of almost $3000, describing his actions as thoughtless and inconsiderate.
The court heard that a woman was distressed to discover some of the dead horses when she arrived at the park to take her children for a walk.
"(Day) knew that he was disposing of the carcasses in a conservation park but was indifferent to or surely did not turn his mind to the impact his actions might have on users of the park," prosecutor Pamela Wilkinson said.
Day was previously fined $2500 and suspended for 27 months by Thoroughbred Racing SA after disposing of the 13 horses in the Mount Magnificent Conservation Park between 2013 and 2015.
Defence lawyer Nicole Kelly asked the judge to spare a conviction, saying Day was struggling financially and had already suffered damage to his reputation.
She noted that an inquiry had revealed no evidence of ill treatment or welfare-related issues with any of the animals.
Judge Costello accepted that Day had adopted the same practice as his father in decades prior and had made no attempt to disguise the dead horses or remove identifying microchips.
But despite having sympathy for Day, he said there was a need to record a conviction in order to deter others from dumping waste.
"In hindsight, it was all too obvious that a person might come across the carcasses and that if they did, they would be distressed," he said.
The maximum penalties for illegal dumping by an individual include a fine of $120,000 or a two-year jail sentence.
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