Bulldog left to starve and ‘lie in her own faeces’
PET OWNER BANNED FOR FIVE YEARS FROM HAVING ANY ANIMALS
A GATESHEAD woman has been given a five-year animal banning order after leaving an 11-month-old dog to starve in a “filthy” cage.
American bulldog Nala was so weak she couldn’t stand for longer than half a minute without falling over after she was found emaciated in a filthy cage at a home in Gateshead by police last August. She was given a body condition score of just one out of nine.
According to the vet who examined her, she had been suffering from hunger for “weeks to months.” Kirsty Keogh-Laws, the RSPCA inspector who investigated the case, described Nala as the thinnest dog she had ever seen alive during her 14-year career.
Nala’s owner, Toni Rowland, 26, admitted to two animal welfare offences following a prosecution by the animal welfare charity. At a sentencing hearing on April 9, South Tyneside Magistrates Court heard how Northumbria Police had found the dog in a urine-soaked cage in a bedroom at a property in Leeming Gardens on August 27 and rushed her to the veterinary practice.
Due to her emaciated condition, the RSPCA was contacted and an investigation started. In written evidence to the court, Inspector Keogh-Laws, who saw her at the vets, said: “She was desperately skinny and I was able to see every bone in her body.
“Her rib cage was visibly protruding from her body and I could count the bones along her spine. Her legs and back end were stained yellow with a strong smell of urine,
“She was friendly despite being visibly very weak.”
The court heard that the team at Vets Now ran blood tests and instigated a feeding plan. Nala was cared for by a veterinary nurse from the practice before being transferred to the RSPCA rehoming centre for ongoing care last November.
One of the vets who examined her said in her evidence: “Her poor muscle tone and the weakness we observed after admission would make it likely that she hadn’t been able to exercise.
“It is likely she had to lie in her own faeces and urine for a prolonged time. Her body condition would lead me to think she hadn’t been fed appropriately and suffered from hunger for weeks to months.”
In addition to the five-year disqualification order Rowland, now of Dundas Way, Gateshead, was also given a 12-month community order with 20 RAR days and told to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. Magistrates’ were told she was suffering from mental health problems at the time and was unable to look after herself and Nala suffered as a result.
When Nala arrived at Felledge Animal Centre in Chester-le-Street, she would urinate on the floor when staff called her name, so they stopped using it. Thankfully, there has been a happy ending for Nala, who has since been renamed Penny and rehomed with 27-year-old Beth Atkinson, who described her as “my world”.
Inspector Keogh-Laws praised Northumbria Police and vets for their support in the case, adding: “She couldn’t stand unaided at the vets for more than 30 seconds and was quite literally wasting away in a filthy cage.
“She was a very poorly dog when she first arrived at Vets Now in Gateshead and the team there were instrumental in her recovery. We were all hoping for the best but possibly fearing the worst. To see Penny now in her new home, transformed and living her best life with Beth, is just incredible.”
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