Deport Hugh Meixner for Aggravated cruelty

The owner of the four-year-old chestnut mare had warned Meixner that the horse was hard to load. The court was told by the prosecuting officer, Sgt Blundell, that Meixner flogged the mare with a lariat so viciously he told the owner "not to look at it or you'll bash me".

Sgt Blundell added that "Her head was swollen, both eyes were closed, there were lacerations to the offside front leg, grazes to her face, welts along the length of its back, internal injuries that caused it to pass blood, rope burns and a large haematoma in the vulva area."

RSPCA Queensland spokesman Michael Beatty said the decision by the magistrate appeared to be totally out of touch with community expectations.

"A man beats a horse half to death and walks away with a suspended sentence ... yet again an opportunity to make a stand against animal cruelty has been ignored and the general public is quite rightfully feeling let down and totally disillusioned"

"It appears that the police prosecutor argued long and hard for a jail term to be imposed but this was ignored by the magistrate and the defendant has walked away with little more than a slap on the wrist."

This case was prosecuted by the Queensland Police, not the RSPCA, but the man was charged under the Animal Care and Protection Act (2001) with animal cruelty. Under the Act he could have been liable to a $100,000 fine or two years imprisonment

We the undersigned, as law abiding and tax paying Australian citizens, want Hugh Meixner to be summarily deported for his barbaric actions toward a defenseless creature and for his willingness to flout Australian law.