The RSPCA executed a warrant and seized evidence from a Moorooduc Highway property in Mt Eliza on 18 September. The raid comes after months of community concerns and protests over the condition and treatment of animals on the property.
A statement from RSPCA Victoria said, “new evidence and information lodged directly to RSPCA Victoria’s Inspectorate, from eyewitnesses, enabled us to take this swift action”.
“We would like to assure the community we are doing everything in our power under the legislation to investigate this matter.”
Carly Wines, who has organised continuous protests on the property since April, said she would like to “thank the RSPCA for attending the property and for acknowledging [the community’s] reporting and the benefits it can add to the case”.
“To even think for a fleeting moment that the animals might be leaving would just be incredible,” she said.
“It would mean the world, and it would mean that all of our efforts and our sacrifices over the last five months have been worthwhile.”
The RSPCA first began investigating the reports back in May after community members noticed dangerously underweight horses at the property in Mt Eliza (RSPCA investigates horse welfare, The News 2/5/25).
Concerned animal welfare advocates have since been rallying outside the property, Parliament, and RSPCA Headquarters in Burwood, urging for action to be taken. An online petition demanding immediate action has gained over 13,000 signatures.
In June, Maxine Galpin, the owner of the property, launched a GoFundMe page, asking for money after admitting she doesn’t have the funds to sufficiently feed the animals. To date, there has not been a single donation.
In July, after drone footage of the property showed carcasses at several burn sites, Chris Crewther, MP for Mornington, sent a letter to the RSPCA. He urged them to “exhaust all available options – including additional inspections, veterinary assessments, and referrals to higher authorities – to ensure the welfare of these animals is not further compromised”.
Last month, the RSPCA accused animal welfare protestors of engaging in harassment, doxxing, threats, and physical harassment (RSPCA accuses animal welfare protestors of harassment, threats, The News 18/8/25).
In response, Wines said “we believe we are making the owner of the property accountable for the treatment of the animals under her care. It seems like we have created a case that is too hot to handle for the RSPCA too, and that may explain why they are lashing out”.
“This shows the power of the people,” said Tracey Asquith, spokesperson for Animal Care and Protection, another organisation that has been lobbying for the welfare of the animals at the property.
“Ordinary Victorians stood up, protested, signed petitions, and refused to look away. The community became the voice for the voiceless — and it worked.”
Asquith has been organising protests outside of RSPCA HQ and Parliament and said “[the action taken by RSPCA] has actually made me feel like the last three, four months of activities, activism, protests, all the emails I’ve sent, all the interviews I’ve given, all the work I’ve done, along with hundreds and thousands of others, is at last making a difference for those animals”.
“Action by the RSPCA should never have taken this long, nor should it have required relentless community action to force the authorities to do their job,” she said.
The statement from the RSPCA declined to to provide further information about the raids due to being an “ongoing investigation”.
