Yahoo News Cruel owner left injured dogs in faeces-riddled kennels with no water for days
A man has been banned from keeping animals for 10 years after eight dogs were found in inhumane conditions and cuts and scars to their faces.
Reece Robertson pleaded guilty to four offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. He was handed the ban, as well as a 12 month community order, requiring Robertson to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
The court was told RSPCA officers and police found eight dogs at Robertson's home and a nearby allotment after two search warrants were executed. Several of the dogs were suffering from untreated wounds.
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The searches were part of an investigation dubbed 'Operation Spike' and took place on October 5 last year. The warrants had been issued under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
RSPCA Chief Inspector Ian Muttit, of the charity’s SOU (Special Operations Unit) said three adult dogs and a puppy were kept in very poor conditions in kennels located in Robertson's back garden. The dogs included a bull lurcher called Barn, a female bull lurcher called Bella, Patterdale terrier called Punch and a lurcher puppy.
Chief Inspector Muttit said: “Each kennel had a large build up of faeces in it. They were small and the run areas had large amounts of faeces built up inside, while the sleeping areas for each were extremely basic and looked inadequate in terms of shelter or bedding.”
RSPCA officers found five more dogs in five separate kennels, including a female lurcher called Jess who had lost part of her nose and had scars across her face. Also suffering with facial cuts and scars were a Patterdale terrier called Tilly, a female lurcher called Thorn and two male lurchers named Mash and Bracken.
An RSPCA SOU Inspector stated: “The conditions in these kennels were extremely poor. Tilly and Mash had no water in their kennels and all the dogs had very dirty kennels with lots of fresh and mouldy faeces inside them.”
Robertson indicated he had not attended the allotment for two to three days and no arrangements were made for anyone to attend to the dogs. All eight dogs were seized and taken to the care of the RSPCA, Barrow-in-Furness Magistrates Court was told.
A vet found several of the dogs were underweight and others had untreated facial wounds. Tilly was very thin and scored one out of five on a body condition score.
Thorn had a broken tooth and a wound on her front leg, extending into her muscle. Mash's left eye and chin were inflamed and swollen, Braken and wounds on his mouth and foot pad and Jess suffered fur loss and her nasal septum was missing.
Bella had an old scar on her head and teats were enlarged. Barn has a scab on his nose and a recent cut to his inner ear, whilst Punch had crusty skin and scabbing on his chin.
Robertson, of Cook Road in Millom, said none of the dogs were under a vet and claimed Jess had got her head stuck in a wire fence, with her nose "ripped off" after he tried to pull her away. The vet concluded Robertson failed to provide a suitable living environment for Tilly, Thorn, Mash, Braken and Jess.
He also failed to provide a suitable diet for Tilly and failed to provide for the needs of Bella, Punch and Bam. In mitigation, the court heard Robertson had learning difficulties and was “regarded as a soft touch for animals in the area”.
It's thought people gave him dogs when they couldn't care for it, but it proved too much for him both financially and intellectually and he had tried to administer “self-treatment”. The defendant was also ordered to pay costs of £500.
The dogs have since made good recovery in RSPCA and have been rehomed. The defendant later agreed to rehome the lurcher puppy.
Speaking after the case, Chief Inspector Muttit said: “We discovered these dogs in a pretty bleak environment. Those at the allotment were being kept in really poor conditions and the defendant had left them unattended for three days in their own mess.
“A number of them were suffering with injuries, including one who had lost part of her nose. It was important that we investigated the welfare of these dogs and removed them to a place of safety.”
