Puppy starves to death in cage
Court
Awoman who ‘spun a web of lies’ and abandoned two dogs in a house in Halifax – one of whom was found dead in a cage without food or water – has been given a suspended 20-week prison sentence and disqualified from keeping animals indefinitely.
Bulldog Doris and rottweiler puppy Rox were left behind by Leah O’Connor when she moved out of the property in Melrose Street, Halifax, in February 2023.
Conditions inside the rubbish and faeces-strewn house were so bad that the RSPCA officer who removed the dogs found it difficult to speak because of the overpowering smell of ammonia.
Emaciated Doris was later found to have eaten plastic to survive and the position of Rox’s body in the cage suggested she had been trying to get out for some time prior to her death.
O’Connor was prosecuted by the RSPCA after the animal welfare charity was called in to investigate when the abandoned dogs were discovered by the landlord on February 21.
The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to two offences contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
At a sentencing hearing on April 11, Bradford magistrates were told that the ‘prolonged neglect’ and abandonment of the dogs by their owner for a long period of time could not be regarded as anything other than ‘a deliberate act, perhaps short of sadistic behaviour’. The court heard O’Connor had ‘spun a web of lies’ to neighbours and family members, telling them Doris and Rox had been rehomed to someone on a farm. She had concealed their suffering and the state of the property which she wouldn’t allow anyone to enter, before finally leaving the house and abandoning the dogs to die inside.
RSPCA Inspector Demi Hodby, who investigated the case, took a video inside the house and struggled to describe the conditions because of the overpowering smell.
In written evidence to the court, the inspector said: “Towards the back of the room behind the sofa was a dog cage covered with a blue blanket. Inside was the body of a deceased dog which appeared to be a black and tan rottweiler puppy.
"It was absolutely heartbreaking to think what this dog has gone through leading up to its death.”
The other dog, Doris, was found barely alive on top of a single bed in an upstairs bedroom, being comforted by a friend of the landlord. She was emaciated, shivering and lethargic and described by Inspector Hodby as ‘very flat and hardly moving’.
Sadly, despite the best efforts of vets and other staff, her condition deteriorated further in the days that followed and the decision was made to put her to sleep to prevent further suffering.
In mitigation the court was told that O’Connor, now of Summerfield Road, Todmorden, had been diagnosed with low maturity and struggled with alcohol and drug issues – which she was getting help for – as well as depression and anxiety.
Suspending the 20-week prison sentence for 18 months, magistrates also banned her from keeping animals indefinitely and ordered her to carry out 33 days rehabilitation activity requirement and pay compensation to the landlord.