Couple kept eight dogs in van ‘full of excrement’
ONE LOST BADLY INFECTED EYE DUE TO ‘DESPICABLE CONDITIONS’
A COUPLE have been banned from owning animals for eight years after they were found to have neglected their eight dogs, keeping them in awful conditions in the back of a van.
The animals’ living area was found to be “full of excrement and food” after the RSPCA intervened.
The owners, Bryan Riley, 74, and his wife Georgina, 70, who live near Retford, both pleaded guilty to a host of offences after the dogs were found in the vehicle outside an address in Gringley-on-thehill. The RSPCA was contacted due to fears for the pets’ safety.
After an order to clean up the dogs’ living area failed to meet standards, Police Constable James Pickersgill and an RSPCA inspector returned to the address. After opening the van’s doors they were met with dogs standing on top of mounds of excrement and materials.
All eight were in desperate need of attention by a vet. One poor animal, a four-year-old French Bulldog named Lola, had an eyeball so badly infected it was beyond saving, and it had to be removed.
Another French bulldog, named Hugo, had thinning fur and was suffering from scabs on his coat and a weeping sore on his back leg. Liberty, a third French bulldog, also had scabs on her coat and open sores on her face, and because her collar was attached so tightly her neck was sore and reddened.
Two poodles, mother and daughter Angel and Coco, had dirty matted coats. A third poodle, Rosie, was matted with faeces and urine and had sores around her eyes and an elbow.
A dachshund, Iggy, was suffering from extensive hair loss and scabs on his coat, and another dachshund, Lady, had thinning fur.
Bryan Riley had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of causing unnecessary suffering. One for failing to provide veterinary care for three of the dogs who were suffering from skin diseases, and the second for failing to provide veterinary care for the injury to Lola’s eye. He also admitted to failing to ensure all the needs of the dogs were met.
Georgina Riley pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the needs of the eight dogs were met.
The couple both appeared at Doncaster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, June 13, where they were both fined a total of £1,000 and ordered to pay £909 in court costs.
They also received disqualification notices banning them from keeping any kind of animal for eight years. They are unable to appeal against the order prohibiting them from keeping animals for the next four years.
PC Pickersgill, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “The conditions we found these dogs in were despicable. When myself and the RSPCA inspector opened the van doors we found the floor was filled deep with excrement, food and other material.
“To see animals being kept in this way was heartbreaking.” He added: “None of the dogs appeared in good health so we took the vehicle back to the local police station where they were all checked over and it was decided all required a full checkup and treatment by a vet.
“I hope this case serves as a warning to other animal owners that we will work in partnership with the RSPCA to bring those neglecting animals or mistreating them to justice and I welcome the court’s outcome in this case in issuing fines to the Rileys for their treatment of innocent animals.
“Pets and animals become part of people’s families and we would never want to see any of them being mistreated so we will always work with our partners to get to the bottom of any reports made to us.
“I would like to thank the RSPCA for their assistance in this matter and I hope the court sentence this investigation has attracted will make other owners more aware of the conditions that their pets are living in.”
The dogs have since been rehomed and are reportedly doing well.
To see animals being kept in this way was heartbreaking.
PC James Pickersgill