Witchcliffe man Douglas Crappsley ordered to appear in court over animal cruelty charge

A 78-year-old Witchcliffe man has been ordered to appear in Bunbury Magistrate’s Court to answer allegations of using steel jaw traps after a cat was allegedly caught in his rear yard. Douglas Frank Crappsley was due to appear on Thursday after he was previously charged with being a person who was cruel to an animal. Although Mr Crappsley entered an endorsed plea of guilty in a bid to have the matter dealt with in his absence, Magistrate Joanne Andretich found it would be more appropriate for Mr Crappsley to appear in person. A summons was issued for Mr Crappsley to appear on July 28. Mr Crappsley was initially charged last month with animal cruelty after the RSPCA received a cruelty report in August last year. It was alleged a six-year-old tabby cat had been discovered trapped in a rusty steel-jaw trap by the cat’s carer, who was looking after the cat for her daughter at the time. The cat was allegedly found in Mr Crappsley’s yard with her leg badly injured and bleeding in the trap before she was rushed to a local vet who was forced to amputate the leg after three weeks of treatment. Mr Crappsley allegedly told RSPCA inspectors that he had set the trap to catch rabbits. The maximum penalty for a charge of animal cruelty is a $50,000 fine and five years in prison.