The law is failing animals

TWO court cases got me wondering about how life for animals depends so much on the humans who look after them. Or don’t, for that matter.

The first involved a 31-year-old woman who neglected her two huskies so badly that one had to be put down.

Shasta, aged seven, was blind in the left eye due to untreated glaucoma (that’s very painful).

He was emaciated, having a body condition score of one out of five (that takes long-term continuous malnutrition, horrifyingly reminiscent of children in Ethiopia in the 1970s).

His ribs and hip bones were clearly visible, with muscle loss.

His coat was filthy, dull, greasy and smelt of urine. He had a raging temperature, presumably due to a urinary tract infection. The Scottish SPCA inspectors who visited the home and seized the dogs sought veterinary advice and Shasta was euthanased to avoid further suffering.

His fellow victim, Skylar, aged two, was luckier. Despite being emaciated and having significant dental problems, she was able to recover her from her ordeal.

Their owner admitted failing to provide adequate or appropriate nutrition and of failing to seek veterinary treatment, causing suffering.

Meanwhile, police and SSPCA officers raided the one-bedroom flat belonging to a man who advertised “Keith’s Reptile Parties”.

They found 13 venomous snakes and two scorpions in insecure enclosures. A boomslang, a western diamondback rattlesnake, various cobras, including a king cobra and spitting cobras, and the scorpions were all being held in appalling conditions.

There were no warning signs. It seems the menagerie was used during his £80-anhour kids’ parties.

The owner, unsurprisingly called Keith, admitted causing the animals unnecessary suffering and failing to disclose dangerous animals to the SSPCA and Police Scotland.

But here’s the rub. The woman who virtually starved one of her dogs to death received a sentence of 75 hours of unpaid work.

The reptiles’ owner received an 18-month jail term and was banned from keeping animals for 10 years.

It’s dangerous to comment without knowing all the circumstances. But really?