Amelia Catherine Seales, 25, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, after earlier admitting threatening to kill, threatening behaviour and assaulting two detectives.
The court heard that on September 4, Oranga Tamariki went to Seales' home to discuss concerns about her care of her children and to create a safety plan.
She refused to co-operate.
The next day, the children were uplifted following an order from the family court.
Seales became "enraged" with the social worker and threatened to drive through her ex-partner's house and kill him.
One of the detectives stopped her from opening the gate to prevent her from driving away.
But on the driveway, she stood close to the social worker and threatened to find out where she lived and that she would "regret it".
The detective stopped Seales from getting into her vehicle.
Walking away from the vehicle and using her mobile phone to contact an associate, she stated she wanted to stab her ex-partner.
She scratched the detective's hand several times with her fingernails and also dug her nails into another detective's hand causing it to bleed.
Counsel Karlena Lawrence explained her client was in a Stopping Violence course as well as a programme for parenting.
"She is taking her rehabilitation, in this instance, seriously," Ms Lawrence said.
Judge Emma Smith acknowledged the situation would have been "entirely distressing" for the defendant, especially because she did not believe her children should be uplifted.
"You cannot react in this way, even in these unusual circumstances," the judge said.
"That was a serious assault on detectives who were doing their job and also trying to stop you from doing anything stupid."
She acknowledged Seales was now "trying to do the right thing".
The court heard Seales had three previous convictions of breaching a protection order and one of suspended driving.
Judge Smith said her limited history reflected her struggle with emotional regulation.
She sentenced Seales to 200 hours' community work, nine months' supervision and ordered her to pay court costs of $143.
Last year, Seales made headlines after she held the Exotic Pet Expo in the Forrester Park Hall.
The SPCA investigated complaints about the animals' poor treatment, but Seales disputed the claims and said she was the subject of an online smear campaign.
