{"id":221515,"date":"2026-01-07T13:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/221515\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T13:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:57:11","slug":"neglectful-dog-breeder-janine-wallace-fails-in-latest-bid-to-overturn-ban-convictions-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/221515\/","title":{"rendered":"Neglectful dog breeder Janine Wallace fails in latest bid to overturn ban, convictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published on \"NZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\"German<\/p>\n

\nIn 2017 German shepherd dogs and pups were found in cages, on short leashes and choker chains on a kennel property owned by Barbara Glover and her daughter Janine Wallace.
\nPhoto: Supplied \/ SPCA\n<\/p>\n

A German Shepherd breeder who was banned from owning dogs for almost a decade after she and her mother were caught neglecting the animals has tried to have the prohibition overturned.<\/p>\n

Janine Wallace also attempted to have her convictions quashed, but following multiple appeals, she has been told the relitigation must come to an end, and the original sentence must stand.<\/p>\n

Volkerson Kennels, based in P\u014dkeno, operated commercial kennels for the breeding, showing and sale of German Shepherd dogs.<\/p>\n

The dogs were sometimes sold for up to $5000.<\/p>\n

Wallace’s mother, Barbara Glover, had been breeding the dogs for several years when Wallace became involved in the business after a failed real estate career.<\/p>\n

Through the 2010s, Wallace was convicted of selling a $500,000 block of land and carparks in Auckland that she did not own.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the SPCA began investigating Volkerson Kennels after receiving information regarding the mistreatment of animals.<\/p>\n

On 12 October of that year, the SPCA walked the property with Wallace, observing dogs tethered to fences, housed in makeshift structures, or kept in unhygienic runs.<\/p>\n

They had already issued statutory notices requiring improvements which had not been met and found there was no point issuing another.<\/p>\n

The following day, they returned with police, a vet and animal welfare staff.<\/p>\n

\"Janine<\/p>\n

\nJanine Wallace, left, and her mother, Auckland dog breeder Barbara Glover, right, were banned from owning dogs for nine years in a case of neglect brought by the SPCA.
\nPhoto: NZME \/ Ellen Thompson\n<\/p>\n

When Wallace asked whether they had a search warrant, inspectors told her they did not need one and cited the Animal Welfare Act, which allows warrantless entry for the purpose of inspecting animals.<\/p>\n

The search uncovered some of the most troubling scenes in the case.<\/p>\n

A pregnant dog, Debbie, was found locked in a small, dark utility shed, lying in her own faeces with an untreated ear infection.<\/p>\n

A dog named Ritza was found in an even worse condition, tied up in a haybarn with a chain tangled around her leg, cutting off blood supply.<\/p>\n

The dog was in such poor condition she had to be euthanised.<\/p>\n

The discoveries formed the basis of 17 charges, of which Wallace was convicted following a three-month judge-alone trial in 2022.<\/p>\n

Wallace was sentenced to 12 months’ intensive supervision and 300 hours of community work, while Glover was sentenced to nine months’ supervision.<\/p>\n

Both were disqualified from owning or exercising ownership of dogs for nine years.<\/p>\n

In 2023, Wallace took her case to the High Court, challenging both her convictions and sentence.<\/p>\n

Her appeal centred on two arguments: that SPCA body-camera footage should be admitted as fresh evidence because it would show a “different narrative” about the dogs’ condition, and that the trial judge had erred in preferring the SPCA inspectors’ evidence over her own.<\/p>\n

Justice Paul Davison rejected both points, finding the footage did not meet the test for fresh evidence and the District Court’s findings were sound.<\/p>\n

Wallace also appealed aspects of her sentence, arguing the nine-year disqualification from owning or controlling dogs was excessive and that the $20,000 costs order was unjustified.<\/p>\n

The High Court dismissed those challenges.<\/p>\n

Wallace later filed another appeal, submitting that the SPCA had breached her human rights during the second October 2017 search.<\/p>\n

Her lawyer at the time, Grant Fletcher, advised that the prospects of success were low, she would incur another $50,000 in fees, and the practical option would be to apply to have her disqualification cancelled after two years.<\/p>\n

Wallace told Fletcher the advice was “an excellent winning idea” and instructed him to abandon the second appeal.<\/p>\n

However, it was that abandonment she recently tried to undo in the Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n

In submissions, her new lawyer, Ian Brookie, maintained that the search warrant was unlawful, and Wallace did not receive proper legal advice regarding her appeal.<\/p>\n

The Court of Appeal disagreed.<\/p>\n

In the recently released decision, the court ruled that Wallace had received detailed, competent legal advice which was understood and accepted.<\/p>\n

“We have concluded Ms Wallace should be refused leave to withdraw her notice of abandonment,” the court ruled.<\/p>\n

“This is not a case where the applicant had an absolute defence which was overlooked at trial or on first appeal.”<\/p>\n

Wallace’s convictions and sentence – including her nine\u2011year disqualification from owning or controlling dogs – remain in place.<\/p>\n

This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First published on In 2017 German shepherd dogs and pups were found in cages, on short leashes and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-221515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}