3 Jul 2024
A court has heard how an animal taken for an urgent veterinary examination was already dead and was likely to have suffered for at least four weeks before he died.
Vet Times
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Springer spaniel Lola was classed as extremely underweight and was signed over to the RSPCA. She has since been rehomed.
A man has been given a suspended prison sentence and barred from keeping animals for five years after he starved two dogs, one of them to death.
A court has heard how one of the dogs was already dead when taken to a vet and was likely to have suffered for several weeks before his death.
The other animal was also found to be severely underweight before she was signed over to RSPCA care.
Kian Declan Rourke, 21, of Byker, Newcastle, was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, by magistrates in the city on 21 June.
He had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering and one of failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the dogs’ needs were met during August and September last year.
An investigation was launched after a one-year-old gold male cocker spaniel, named Charlie, was taken to a vet in the Wallsend area of the city.
Although he was described as being unconscious after hitting his head, a veterinary examination revealed he was already dead.
The vet who examined him at the time said he was “emaciated” and had faeces in his mouth, while three different accounts were given for what had happened to him.
Another vet who examined his body told the court starvation was the only clear cause of death and Charlie was likely to have been suffering for at least four weeks before he died.
Rourke, who the court heard claimed had been trying to rehome the dog for several months, was then told to bring the second dog on file, an 18-month-old springer spaniel named Lola, for examination.
She had a body condition score of one, which is classed as extremely underweight and was signed over to the RSPCA. She has since been rehomed.
Rourke was also ordered to complete 15 days’ rehabilitation activity and 80 hours of unpaid work, as well as paying a £154 victim surcharge, in addition to his suspended sentence and disqualification from keeping animals.
