A man has been banned from keeping animals for five years after he left his emaciated dog locked in a property for days without food.
Paul Spinks, 31, of Overdale Close, Kendal, pleaded guilty to two animal welfare offences when he appeared at Barrow-in-Furness Magistrates’ Court on January 23.
The court heard how the RSPCA were called to investigate after a concerned member of the public reported that a bull terrier-cross dog called Snoop had been left alone in a house in Yewbarrow Terrace, Grange-over-Sands.
The RSPCA attended the property on September 2 last year but were unable to gain access and inspector Martyn Fletcher could see the dog through a frosted glass window and a build-up of mail at the front door.
He made local inquiries and found no one had attended to the dog for at least five days so he alerted Cumbria Police to enable him to enter the property to rescue the dog.
Inspector Fletcher said: “I immediately noticed the strong smell of urine and faeces coming from the inside of the property. As I searched through each room to try to find the dog, I found that the smell was constant.
“In the living room, at the rear of the address, I saw a dog laying on the window sill. I immediately noticed that it was in poor bodily condition, with his ribs and spine visible. It was a white coloured English bull terrier cross type dog. I noticed a patch of dark skin along his back which appeared to be a skin allergy.
“The skin on his belly and underparts appeared red and irritable. The dog appeared nervous but friendly. On closer inspection, I could see a number of fleas moving around in the dog’s fur.
“Across the floor of this room, I could see a number of piles of dog faeces which appeared to be of differing ages. In the hallway was a large black plastic bucket. This contained an amount of water which filled it to less than halfway. Also present was a rectangular plastic food bowl which was empty.”
Martyn rushed the dog called Snoop to a nearby vets. The 12 month-old pup was found to weigh just 14.4 kilograms when a healthy weight should have been 23 kilograms – and he was described as emaciated. He was also found to have a severe flea infestation.
Snoop has since gone on to make a full recovery and is now in the care of the RSPCA Warrington, Halton and St Helen’s branch and he is now looking for his forever home.
A spokesperson for the branch said: “Snoop has blossomed into a young, healthy, beautiful and intelligent boy, he loves to play fetch and will destroy a soft teddy if he can get one!
“Snoop enjoys training and will do what he can to please his handler – he also loves a fuss and would love nothing more than a good snooze on a sofa he can call his own.
“He gets on well with other dogs but can be full-on and boisterous so will need his new family to continue working on this with him. Overall, Snoop is a super friendly, bouncy bundle of joy!”
As well as the ban on keeping all animals for five years Spinks was also ordered to carry out a 12-month community order – including 100 hours of unpaid work – and pay £400 costs with an added £95 victim surcharge. In mitigation, the court took into account his early guilty plea.
