Elderly NSW Woman Charged With Animal Cruelty Over Horrific Offences

A 73-year-old NSW woman who allegedly gained the trust of a variety of animals with food before taking them home and torturing them has been charged.

Police say the woman was spotted by members of the public grabbing a pelican and bundling it into her boot, slamming it shut on its wing, on April 27 at Tuncurry on the mid north coast.

She let the injured animal go as police approached, according to officers, who later searched her home and allegedly found extensive evidence of animal torture.

Police say a mobile phone seized from the home contained photos and videos of mutilated animals, including a dog and rabbit.

Police also found a caged magpie that had had its beak cut off. The bird was taken to a vet and euthanised.

Police say the woman would take the animals, which she had mutilated over an extended period of time, to the vet to be euthanised, claiming to have found them.

The woman was charged with a variety of offences including committing an act of cruelty on an animal, failing to provide vet treatment and dealing in animals.

She was given strict conditional bail to appear at Forster Local Court on May 22.

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