An Australian woman narrowly avoided jail on Monday over her plans to sell on the black market two human toes that had been regurgitated by dogs at the animal shelter where she worked.
Joanna Kathlyn Kinman, 48, was not present at the animal shelter in the southeastern state of Victoria when the two dogs vomited up the toes and other remains in February 2024. The dogs, which had been surrendered to the shelter, had eaten parts of their owner’s body after he died of natural causes; the owner has not been publicly identified.
Kinman reportedly told police she had retrieved the toes from a bin and taken them home, where she put them in a jar of formaldehyde. She appeared to believe she could make as much as 400 Australian dollars ($253) by selling them online.
When police arrived at her home on an anonymous tip, the Australian Associated Press reported, she showed them other items she had been keeping including an alligator claw, a bird skull, a guinea pig trotter and her children’s teeth.
Prosecutors said she was an active member of a Facebook group called “Bone Buddies Australia” where specimens are bought, sold and traded.
On Monday, Kinman pleaded guilty to offensive conduct involving human remains at the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court in Melbourne, the news agency said. She faced a maximum possible sentence of two years in prison.
Magistrate Andrew Sim sentenced her to an 18-month non-custodial sentence, including 150 hours of community service.
“By the barest of possible margins you will not be going to jail today,” Sim told Kinman, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, describing her actions as “astounding” and “entirely odd.”
Kinman’s lawyer, Rainer Martini, told the court that his client “regretted her actions fulsomely.” He added that Kinman had lost her job and been publicly shamed online by a community that was “unsurprisingly repulsed by her behavior.”
Kinman did not respond to questions from the media outside the court.
