An Australian woman narrowly avoided jail after confessing to attempting to sell two human fingers that dogs had vomited up at the animal shelter where she worked.
The incident occurred after two dogs were delivered to the animal shelter in the state of Victoria, in southeastern Australia. The animals had partially eaten the body of their deceased owner, who passed away from natural causes in February 2024.
Joanna Kathlyn Kinman, 48, who worked at the shelter, told the police that she had retrieved the fingers from a trash bin and taken them home, where she placed them in a jar of formaldehyde. She believed she could make around $253 by selling them on the online black market.
When the police arrived at her home following an anonymous tip, Australian Associated Press reported that she showed other items she was storing, including a crocodile claw, a bird skull, a guinea pig’s foot, and the teeth of her children.
Prosecutors said that she was an active member of a Facebook group called Bone Buddies Australia, where specimens are bought, sold, and traded. On Monday, June 17, she pleaded guilty to offensive conduct involving human remains.
Magistrate Andrew Sim from the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court in Melbourne sentenced her to a non-custodial sentence of 18 months and 150 hours of community service. “By a narrow margin, you are not going to jail today,” Sim said, according to the news agency.
Kinman’s lawyer, Rainer Martini, told the court that his client “deeply regretted her actions.” He added that Kinman had lost her job and was publicly shamed online by a community that was “not surprised and repulsed by her behavior.”
Photo and video: Unsplash. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
