Shelter worker scoured bin of dog vomit for human toes to sell for $400 on black market

The court heard Kinman worked as a ranger at an animal shelter, where her job involved after-hours collection of stray and seized animals.

The court heard Joanna Kinman was a member of Bone Buddies Australia, an online group for “skull and bone enthusiasts”. Credit: AAP

Lilydale woman Joanna Kathlyn Kinman, 48, appeared in Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on Monday to plead guilty to a single charge of offensive conduct involving human remains.

A Melbourne mother who put a dead man’s toes in a jar to sell them on the black market had a treasure trove of other “oddities” in her house.

Leading Senior Constable Melissa Sambrooks said that on February 19 last year, two dogs that had partially consumed the toes after their owner died from natural causes were seized and taken for an assessment.

While at the facility where Kinman worked, the dogs became ill and vomited up the remains.

Sambrooks said shelter staff cleaned up the vomit and placed it and the remains, which included two human toes, in a general waste bin. When a distressed staff member left work early, Kinman remained behind to lock up, taking the opportunity to search the wheelie bins.

“She located two human toes and took them home and placed them in a jar containing formaldehyde,” Sambrooks said.

The following day, Kinman called her daughter and told her about the toes, saying she had researched selling them on the internet and believed she could get $400 for them.