A WOMAN has been banned from keeping animals for life after abandoning her dog in a property where she starved to death.
Christine Mary Wilkinson of Caudlewell Drive, Shipston appeared in front of magistrates in Coventry after causing unnecessary suffering to a bulldog named Minnie was proved in her absence at a previous hearing.
Minnie was discovered by a housing association officer who had accessed Wilkinson’s former address in Marigold Road, Stratford in May 2019.
They found the white and tan dog’s decomposing body and contacted the RSPCA.
During the court hearing RSPCA inspector Thea Kerrison, who was on duty when she received a call about Minnie, described the moment she arrived at the address.
She said: “I was shown towards a closed door by the housing officer, who informed me that this was the room in which Minnie was found.
“I opened the door into a small kitchen area which was approximately two metres by three meters of floor space. On opening the door I was hit by an even stronger smell of decay and I had to place my hand over my mouth and nose. I had difficulty opening the door due to the dog bed, blankets and faeces behind and underneath the door.
“Minnie was curled up in a plastic dog bed on top of a blanket. I could see that she was extremely thin as I could see ribs and hip bones prominently. She looked like she had died, curled up in the sleeping position.”
As well as the lifetime disqualification order on all animals, which can not be appealed for ten years, magistrates handed Wilkinson a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. She was also ordered to do 20 days of rehabilitation activity and was told to pay £150 in costs and a £128 victim surcharge.
Insp Kerrison added: “Minnie was severely neglected prior to her death. The vet reports after her post mortem concluded her poor body condition score would have taken place over a period of weeks. The conditions she was found in with large amounts of faeces in her environment is further evidence of this.
“There were two levels of suffering identified by vets – the physical suffering of starvation and dehydration, and the mental suffering of anxiety and stress, not knowing if anyone was coming for her or when she would be fed.
“Minnie was dependent on her owner and she broke that trust by leaving her to suffer. Wilkinson could have asked for help or handed Minnie over to an animal charity to be rehomed but instead decided to simply abandon her to die after a period of prolonged suffering.”
