A couple who have been found guilty of repeatedly abusing animals will have to cough up more than $100,000 for their crimes.
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Kon and Liudmila Petropoulos were found guilty of 48 charges in the Melbourne Magistrates Court this week, with a Magistrate finding them guilty despite the couple pleading their innocence.
They have also been banned from keeping or selling kittens for 10 years.
Magistrate Rodney Crisp fined them a cumulative total of $22,000 and ordered the payment of $100,914 in costs to the RSPCA.
RSPCA Victoria's major investigations team leader Lisa Calleja said the convictions indicated how seriously the organisation treated animal abuse.
"This case demonstrates we will not be deterred from pursuing animal cruelty offenders, no matter the complexity of the investigation required or the resources we need to dedicate," Ms Calleja said.
"The strong result from the court today goes to show that if people choose to illegally sell animals, or engage in animal cruelty, RSPCA will continue to pursue those offenders and ensure that they are held to account."
The RSPCA said the kittens involved in the case were seized from the Petropoulos' property and were found to be suffering from a range of ailments, including upper respiratory infections, eye and nasal discharge, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis and ear infections.
The pair had previously had their Ballarat property raided.
In July 2020, after a public appeal for information, RSPCA Victoria again executed two warrants at Mr and Mrs Petropoulos' property in Ballarat after receiving information from several members of the public who lodged official reports with RSPCA Victoria's Inspectorate.
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