CONVICTED (2016) | Jordon Louise Barlow, born 07/06/1993, formerly of Ismay Street, Walton, Liverpool L4 and more recently Cotswold Way, Winsford CW7 1QW: starved two dogs to death.
Barlow left two dogs to starve in one of the worst cases of neglect the RSPCA inspectors have seen.
One Staffy Booma was already dead and the other, named Bandit, critically ill when Inspector Helen Smith entered Barlow’s home on December 2, 2015.
Peter Mitchell, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said vets fought to improve Bandit’s condition but he could not regain weight and was put down a few days later.
The body condition of both dogs was scored at one out of nine on a scale used by vets, the worst rating possible.
The court heard Inspector Smith, acting on information from a member of the public, found Booma wrapped up in a blanket, obviously dead.
Mr Mitchell said: “Bony prominences were visible and he had visible sores on his hind legs. Bandit was curled up on the floor with his head on his paws and in poor body condition.
“He was unresponsive to the inspector and appeared to be in a collapsed state.”
The court heard Barlow began caring for the dogs when her ex-partner was jailed. She told Inspector Smith her then partner’s mother had initially looked after the dogs, but Barlow had been forced to take over when she was hospitalised in July 2015.
Barlow said Booma had not been eating but admitted not taking them to see a vet or calling the RSPCA.
Mr Mitchell said the defendant also had her own dog, another male Staffie called Kaos, who appeared well-fed and in good condition, and supplies of dog food were found in the kitchen.
Post-mortems revealed both dogs had died from the effects of starvation but did not have any other underlying health problems.
The judge said: “The picture described of Bandit curled up unresponsive by his dead friend is a very sad one.”
Speaking after the case, Inspector Smith told the ECHO: “This has been one of the worst neglect cases I have done, it affected me personally.
“The vet who dealt with it said the mental torture of not being able to eat and wanting to eat would have been horrific.”
Sentence: 12 weeks in prison, suspended for one year; ordered to complete a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement course. Banned from keeping animals for just five years (expired June 2021); ordered to surrender a third dog to the RSPCA.