Monthly Archives: December 2021

Dogs, Serial Animal Abusers, Violent and Sadistic Pet Abusers, Worst of the Worst

Kingston Upon Hull: Luke Harrison and Liam Tattersall

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CONVICTED (2021) | Luke Harrison, born 25 April 1993, of Weighton Grove, Hull HU6 8NE, and Liam Martin Tattersall, born c. 2000, of Park Grove, Hull HU5 – launched a merciless attack on a family dog, leaving him in crying in distress.

Liam Tattersall (left) and cousin Luke Harrison.

The pair, who are cousins, were staying at the Skipsea Sands holiday park in East Yorkshire when witnesses saw them punching, slapping and kicking a Staffordshire bull terrier, known as Patchy.

Patchy. Picture: Yorkshire Post.
Abused pet Patchy

When questioned about their actions at a later date, Harrison said that was how they were taught to treat animals growing up, a court heard.

Harrison and Tattersall initially denied causing necessary harm to a protected animal.

During a trial held at Hull Magistrates Court on November 8, 2021, Tattersall entered a late guilty plea, and Harrison was found to be guilty in the trial that proceeded in his absence.

Luke Harrison is a father of two but his partner, Natasha Sylvester, has six children in the home where he lives.

RSPCA prosecutor Andrew Davidson told the court that Harrison, Patchy’s owner, was seen by a couple staying at a plot next to them being physically abusive to the dog on several occasions. The couple saw him hitting him with his fist twice while the terrified animal yelped in pain.

On another occasion, Tattersall was seen hitting Patchy twice on the head with force and kicking him.

Harrison and Tattersall moved out of their caravan into a tent at one point. During this time, through the reflection of the shadows, the couple could make out that one of the men was hitting the dog again,

Tattersall (left) and Harrison pictured during their court appearance.

Mr Davidson told the court. When the male witness approached the tent to stop the man, Harrison emerged and said: “What’s it got to do with you? Mind your own business.”

The witnesses called site security. When questioned about his actions, he said: “That is how we have been taught to treat animals.”

The next day, the witnesses saw the men punching the dog and swearing at it, telling it to “get out of the f**king way”

During an RSPCA investigation, Tattersall said he had seen Harrison treating Patchy in that manner and that was why he did the same.

Harrison said: “He was whinging and crying all day, what else was I supposed to do?”

Mr Davidson said: “On the whole this was an unnecessary and cruel assault on a defenceless dog.”

Nick Tubbs, mitigating for Harrison said he did not attend the trial due to childcare reasons, as there are six children in the house he lives in. He added that Harrison felt ‘enormous regret’ for what he did. He had most of his adult life and did not have issues with any of them.

Matthew Coggin, mitigating for Tattersall, said the defendant felt ‘extremely remorseful’.

“The reason behind his involvement was immaturity and influence from others,” Mr Coggin added.

Sentencing:
Harrison – 12-week suspended sentence, 80 hours of unpaid work. Disqualified from owning a dog for 15 years.

Tattersall – eight-week suspended sentence, 60 hours of unpaid work. Disqualified from owning a dog for 10 years.

HullLive
Yorkshire Post

Additional Information

Harrison’s partner, Natasha Sylvester, was also prosecuted by the RSPCA in relation to the same dog.

Natasha ‘Tash’ Sylvester

It’s not known if the charges against her were dropped.

Cats, kitten breeders, Lifers

Whitchurch, Shropshire: Peter and Debbie Rogers

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CONVICTED (2021) | kitten breeders Peter Rogers, born c. 1957, and wife Debbie Rogers, born c. 1961, of Field Cottages, Alkington, Whitchurch SY13 3NE – allowed their cat to become emaciated and suffer with ruptured eyes.

Toffee. Picture: Shropshire Star.
Toffee

Persian cat Toffee was so poorly after months of neglect at the hands of the Rogers she had to be put down. The vet who examined Toffee said the case was one of the clearest cases of severe neglect that he had seen in the last decade.

The couple both pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

RSPCA inspector Nayman Dunderdale visited the couple’s property on June 8, 2021, after the charity received a report about a matted silver tabby cat that was limping.

Peter Rogers told the inspector that Toffee, who was aged between four and five, had cancer and her eyes were missing. He said she needed to be put to sleep and it was his fault they had left it so long.

He said an appointment had been made at their vets for Toffee later that evening, but a check by the RSPCA inspector ten minutes later, revealed that while the practice had some of the couple’s other cats on their books, they did not have one registered under that name. Peter Rogers also told the inspector they were cat breeders.

In his statement, Mr Dunderdale said: “Mr Rogers brought the cat to me. Her eyes were closed and matted with green gunk and she looked very thin, with the bones of her hip spine and hind quarters easily visible.

“Mr Rogers asked me to take her, and said she needed to be put to sleep. I asked that Toffee be brought to my van so I could put her in a basket.”

Toffee was taken straight to a vet where she was examined and found to be emaciated, with a body condition score of just one out of nine. She weighed 1.1kg (2.4lbs) and should have been at least 2 to 2.5kg (between 4.4lbs and 5.5lbs).

Both her eyes had ruptured many days or even weeks before, indicated by the presence of thick dried discharge all over her eye sockets and cheeks, which were embedded with matted hair. The discharge was also present on both her forelimbs where she had rubbed herself in an effort to relieve the discomfort.

The vet who examined Toffee said: “She had a gentle nature despite the horrendous discomfort she was no doubt experiencing. Unfortunately, her welfare was so severely compromised, and with such a slim chance of returning her to an acceptable level of quality of life, that she was euthanised shortly after examination.

“Corneal pain is one of the most acute and severe pain an animal can experience as the cornea is incredibly sensitive to even the lightest trauma. Her owners plainly ignored obvious signs of severe pain and distress over a prolonged period of time. They also allowed her to become very underweight to the point of emaciation.”

He added: “I have been a practising small animal veterinary surgeon for over 15 years. I regularly see cats with sore eyes of varying severity in my daily work. I also work alongside a vet with an interest in veterinary ophthalmology and we communicate regularly about cases, so I am very familiar with corneal issues in cats. In the course of the last decade this is one of the clearest cases of severe neglect that I have seen.”

In mitigation, the court heard that there had been bereavement and illness in the family and Peter Rogers was having mental health difficulties and struggling to cope generally.

In total 15 animals which were owned by the couple have since been rehomed.

Speaking after sentencing, Mr Dunderdale said: “It was clear that Toffee had been suffering pain and distress for a long time and her owners should have done the right thing by her and sought treatment at the earliest opportunity. Her quality of life was so poor at the end that there was no other option but to end her suffering. We always urge people to seek help if they are struggling to look after their pets, rather than letting the situation deteriorate to the extent that it did with Toffee.”

Sentencing: 200 hours of unpaid work; total costs and charges of £345. Lifetime ban on keeping all animals.

Birmingham Live
Shropshire Star

animal fighting / baiting, Dogs, hunting with dogs, Organised Animal Crime, Traveller Animal Crimes, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

High Halstow, Kent: Benny Eastwood

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CONVICTED (2021) | Benny Joe Eastwood, born 20 May 2002, of 2 Acre Farm, Ropers Green Lane, High Halstow, Rochester ME3 8QP – for cruelty to two “hunting” dogs.

Eastwood pleaded guilty to three offences under the Animal Welfare Act relating to two dogs; a bull lurcher called Max and a terrier called Skip.

RSPCA officers and Kent Police went to an address in High Halstow on 14 April 2021, after receiving information from social media that suggested dogs were being used in wildlife crimes.

RSPCA Special Operations Unit spokesperson, Will Mitchell said two dogs who were suffering from injuries, consistent with encounters with a fox or badger, were taken away.

Officers said they also found two dogs living in a wooden kennel block. A black and white lurcher, called Max, who was curled up in a corner had “obvious facial scarring”. A black and tan terrier, called Skip, had its top lip missing.

Eastwood admitted that both dogs belonged to him.

Eastwood told investigators that the terrier had had a fight with another dog but enquiries disproved this account.

An independent vet who assessed both dogs and assisted with the investigation said the lurcher weighed 25kgs and that his ribs, spine and bones of the pelvis were easily visible.

In his witness statement, he said: “There were multiple scars on the muzzle, head and ears. The scars on the head were at different stages of healing and it appeared that the injuries…were not the result of a single incident.”

Skip was found to have multiple scars on the muzzle and head. His ears had no hair and had multiple cuts.

The terrier also had part of his jaw missing and the vet said he couldn’t see there had been “any attempt to treat this substantial injury.”

The vet concluded that both dogs had suffered unnecessarily for an estimated period of approximately two weeks.

The court heard that Eastwood was young and vulnerable, but accepted wrongdoing and was remorseful.

Sergeant Darren Walshaw of Kent Police’s Rural Task Force said: “We work closely with the RSPCA on a range of animal welfare issues. In this instance we carried out a warrant on behalf of the charity to allow them to gather evidence which led to a successful conviction for offences under the Animal Welfare Act. The offender’s actions were not only criminal but barbaric and cruel. “

Sentencing: 12 weeks’ custody, suspended for two years, and a community order with 200 hours of unpaid work; £485 in costs and charges. Disqualified from keeping all animals for life.

ITV News

A Naturewatch Foundation press release uploaded to pressat.co.uk on 21/12/2021 (but since deleted) highlighted the fact that Eastwood exposes his primary-school-age brother to illegal hunting activities including lamping foxes, hare coursing and digging out badgers.

Eastwood shared incriminating images and video footage on social media, including photographs of:

  • his young sibling proudly displaying a dead rabbit
  • both brothers at a dug-out badger sett with two dogs and a shovel
  • the pair smiling as they posed in a field with three dogs and a dead hare
  • two dogs playing ‘tug-of-war’ with a fox
  • a lurcher-type dog with a bloodied hare

Naturewatch Foundation’s wildlife crime campaign manager, Kate Parker, said: “It has been seen that, in some families, animal cruelty is somewhat of a family affair, with youngsters exposed to it and encouraged to take part in activities, such as illegal hunting, before they are old enough to understand the consequences. These practices are normalised, and passed on as a generational tradition, regardless of how barbaric and cruel it is. There is clearly a blatant disregard for the welfare of wildlife, their own animals and, ultimately, the children, being exposed to such cruelty.

“This investigation was a great result for all involved. I thank Kent Police for actioning our investigation package and the RSPCA for taking on the prosecution. We will continue to target those who choose to hunt wildlife with dogs and will not rest until the punishment suits the crime.”
One of Naturewatch Foundation’s other campaigns involves training police internationally on the link between human and animal abuse, and how witnessing cruelty to animals can affect young children.

Mark Randell, campaign manager for the charity’s police training programme, said: “There is a growing recognition of the impact that witnessing violence to animals has on a child’s development, and subsequent propensity to become involved in violent crime themselves.

“In Ukraine, where we train the police and others about the importance of animal abuse, the Criminal Code raises the maximum jail term to eight years when animal cruelty is committed in front of children. This sets an example to the rest of the world – including the UK. Treating animal abuse with the seriousness it deserves creates safer communities for both animals and people.”

Additional Information

Eastwood has multiple Facebook accounts:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069140946143
https://www.facebook.com/bennyjoe.eastwood.52
https://www.facebook.com/bennyjoe.eastwood.5

Birds, Cats, Dogs, farms / smallholdings, Food Production, Hoarders, Multiple Species

Lynemouth, Northumberland: Douglas Oliphant and Michelle Wilkinson

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CONVICTED (2021) | Douglas Oliphant, born c. 1964, and Michelle Wilkinson, born 14 December 1967, both of 107 Dalton Avenue, Lynemouth, Morpeth NE61 5TF – kept 23 ducks and chickens in tiny filthy cages.

Oliphant and Wilkinson kept the birds in plastic recycling crates covered with netting and rabbit hutches in their two-bedroom, mid-terraced house in Lynemouth.

Six cockerels were being forced to live in a single crate.

The pair also kept a dog and two cats in inadequately sized cages, which didn’t have a clean supply of fresh drinking water or suitable bedding.

All the animals were seized after an inspection by the RSPCA.

Oliphant and Wilkinson each pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to ensure animal welfare.

Alex Bousfield, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said the animals were seized on July 27, 2021.

“This is a case that involves quite a large number of animals, 26 in total, all housed in quite a small dwelling – a mid-terraced, two-bedroom house, which was entirely unsuitable for the occupation of these animals”, Mr Bousfield continued.

“It was so crowded and it was not suitable and not healthy for the defendants either.

“RSPCA inspectors intervened at an early stage so, thankfully, only one duck had any health issues and that was something to do with a leg and not related to its housing conditions.

“Six cockerels were being kept in a recycling tub with netting on the top and other birds were being kept in rabbit hutches.

“Clearly, they were being fed and watered as there were no problems with the animals’ weight.”

The court heard that the chickens and ducks were covered in their own faeces, as were the cages they were being kept in.

Mr Bousfield said Oliphant and Wilkinson had not been deliberately cruel but rather didn’t have the knowledge or capability to look after the animals.

Mr Harrison, defending, said the retired couple, who already owned the cats and dog, had bought the birds in a bid to make a “better and more simple” life for themselves.

He told the court that Oliphant was intending to keep them in his allotment but hadn’t got it ready in time.

“With a mixture of naivety and poor planning, the birds grew and their needs grew much quicker than anticipated,” Mr Harrison added.

The court heard that the pair, who had been living in “hoarding conditions”, had now cleaned out their home.

The couple were allowed to keep the two cats and the dog.

Sentencing | 12-month conditional discharge; £300 in costs. Banned from keeping fowl for 12 months (expired December 2022).

Chronicle Live

Dogs

Basingstoke, Hampshire: Daniel Klusek

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CONVICTED (2021) | Daniel Sebastian Klusek, born 22 November 1995, of Britten Road, Basingstoke RG22 4HP – failed to seek veterinary treatment for his elderly cancer-stricken dog.

Daniel Klusek left his elderly pet to suffer.

Klusek was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier called Max in Basingstoke between December 29, 2019 and January 9, 2020.

He was found guilty of “failing to heed professional veterinary advice to adequately explore and address the cause of [his dog’s] poor bodily condition”.

Klusek’s partner, 19-year-old Emily Sawdon, was found not guilty by magistrates and had her case dismissed.

Sentencing: 100 hours of unpaid work; £1,400 in costs and a £95 victim surcharge. Disqualified from having custody of a dog or keeping a dog for five years.

Basingstoke Gazette (court roundup)

Dogs, Pet Profiteering, puppy farmers / traffickers, kennels, backyard breeders, Serial Animal Abusers, Worst of the Worst

Spalding, Lincolnshire: James Adamson

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CONVICTED (2021) | breeder and Kennel Club judge James Donald Adamson, born c. 1965, of 2 Birch Grove, Spalding PE11 2HL – kept ailing dogs in atrocious conditions.

Adamson, who trades under the name Peterwell German Shepherds, has been banned from keeping dogs for 10 years following a prosecution by the RSPCA.

He pleaded guilty to four offences:

  • causing unnecessary suffering to three German Shepherd type dogs by failing to provide adequate or effective professional veterinary care and attention for their chronic skin disorders;
  • causing unnecessary suffering to seven dogs by failing to provide adequate or effective professional veterinary care and attention for their conjunctivitis eye infections;
  • failing to provide seven dogs with a suitable living environment; and
  • failing to protect them from pain, suffering, injury or disease by failing to adequately maintain their coats in an appropriate condition.

RSPCA Inspector Andy Bostock attended Adamson’s home with police officers on July 15, 2021.

Inside a garage, he found four German Shepherd dogs held within two enclosures. Three of the dogs had matted coats and there was a strong smell of ammonia. None of the dogs had food or water.

A vet was contacted and shown footage of the conditions and confirmed the dogs were suffering. The dogs were then seized and taken into possession by the police.

Inside the property there were three further German Shepherd dogs in metal cages.

Inspector Bostock said: “The dogs were subdued and appeared to have skin conditions to varying degrees. There was an extremely strong smell of excrement and urine and the floor to the kitchen area was covered in excrement.

“The dogs appeared dirty and there was no food or water available for them inside the cages.”

The vet was again contacted and provided a vet certificate to say the dogs were suffering and they were also taken into possession by the police.

All the dogs continued to thrive in RSPCA care – and report by a vet who visited to keep tracks on their progress stated: “ If the owner of the dogs had followed the basic welfare guidelines and codes of practice and sought veterinary care, then the suffering to all the dogs could have been alleviated and avoided.”

Inspector Bostock added: “It was the vet’s professional opinion that the owner failed in their duty of care by not providing a reasonable and clean environment with adequate ventilation. The areas where the dogs were forced to live went from being unacceptable in the garage, to an environment which was not fit for human or animal habitation within the house itself in the kitchen area. Dogs are clean animals where they normally would defecate and urinate away from where they sleep.

“The vet also stated that whilst examining all dogs was fully aware of the stench of the coats on these animals which comes from living in a fetid environment which was totally unacceptable and inhumane. This was even more apparent from the poor, feted unkempt coats on three of the dogs where they were contaminated with pure filth.

“We had tried to work with the owner in the past and our advice and offers of help had not been taken on board.”

The court heard in mitigation that Adamson had been suffering from a number of personal problems.

The dogs have all recovered and are doing well in RSPCA care and the court made a deprivation order for ownership to be transferred to the RSPCA – who will now look to find homes for them all.

Sentencing: fined £1,000 and £300 costs and ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge. Disqualified from keeping dogs for 10 years.

Spalding Voice
Spalding Today

Additional information

In January 2020, two six-year-old Afghan hounds – a brother and sister named Ice and Peaches – were seized from Adamson by the RSPCA. A witness described the conditions in which the dogs were being kept:

Two beautiful hounds … shut away from the outside world, neglected, abused, starved to emaciation, matted with filth, covered in urine burn sores, terrified and all alone. The RSPCA finally stepped in and saved them from imminent certain death.

Ice and Peaches

Ice and Peaches recovered from their ordeal and were rehomed.
Adamson faced no charges in relation to these dogs but a petition was launched following the publicity, urging the Kennel Club to strip him of his judging duties..

Animal Abandonment, Dogs

Limavady, County Londonderry: Paul Hasson

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#MostEvil | Paul Hasson, born 25 October 1971, of College Mews, Greystone Road, Limavady BT49 0UT and previously of Slievemore Park, Londonderry BT48 8NJ – abandoned a dog, leaving her to starve to death.

Evil: Paul Hasson, previously of Londonderry and more recently Limavady

Hasson was convicted of abandoning without reasonable cause, causing unnecessary suffering to, and failing to ensure the welfare of, the unnamed terrier-type dog.

Derry City and Strabane District Council brought the charges against Hasson under the Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011.

Saddest sight: the horrific scene which greeted council animal welfare officers.

In a statement, the council said: “Proceedings followed an investigation by council’s animal welfare officers, following a complaint received in June 2020 that a dead dog had been found in a property at Slievemore Park, Londonderry.

“Animal welfare officers entered the defendant’s property and found the remains of a small terrier-type dog which appeared to have been pushed up against the wall with a brush on top of it.

“There was a pungent smell of urine and faeces in the property which was in a bad state of hygiene.

“The dog was very thin and had begun to decompose.

“The dog was seized by animal welfare officers on recommendation of the council-instructed vet.

Despite leaving his pet dog to endure an agonising death, Hasson was only given a 5-year ban on owning animals along with a financial penalty of a few hundred pounds.

“Mr Hasson admitted all offences. District judge King disqualified Mr Hasson from owning, keeping or participating in the keeping of animals and from being party to an arrangement under which that person is entitled to control or influence the way in which animals are kept for a period of five years.

“Mr Hasson was fined £500 and ordered to pay legal costs totalling £138.”

Sentencing: fine, costs and a five-year ban (expires December 2026).

Newsletter
Derry Daily

Animal Abandonment, Dogs, Lifers, Worst of the Worst

Thamesmead, South-East London: David Phillips

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CONVICTED (2021) | David Christopher Phillips, born 10 May 1970, of 7 Eastgate Close, London SE28 8PJ – let his pet dog starve to death

Amber died from chronic starvation after her callous owner failed to feed her.
Amber died from chronic starvation after her callous owner failed to feed her.

Nine-year-old Staffy Amber was so badly neglected, an RSPCA inspector couldn’t even tell her breed or original colour. The charity investigated after the dog’s emaciated body was left at a Thamesmead veterinary hospital “for disposal”.

Following a post-mortem, it was found that the dog was only 8kg, almost half the weight of 14kg she had been when last brought into the clinic in 2019.

The post-mortem concluded that Amber had died of chronic starvation, and at the time of her death was suffering from a chronic, widespread, skin disease resulting from a mite infestation.

Amber’s owner David Phillips pleaded guilty to two two charges under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, namely causing the unnecessary suffering of the animal by failing to address its weight loss and failing to provide the necessary veterinary care for the animal’s chronic skin disease.

According to an investigating veterinary surgeon who provided testimony for the court, Amber’s case was one of the worst she’d ever seen in his career.

RSPCA Inspector Harriet Daliday who investigated the case told the court: ”Amber’s body was extremely thin, all her ribs were clearly visible, as were the bones in her head, shoulders, spine and hips.

“Most of Amber’s fur was missing, especially on her legs and underside, her claws were overgrown and there was dried faecal matter over her rear end.

“I was not able to determine the original colour or even what breed Amber was due to her poor body and skin condition.”

Inspector Dalliday added: “It’s very upsetting to imagine the suffering Amber endured at the end of her life, she was so thin and in such a poor state.”

Sentencing: jailed for 12 weeks; ordered to pay £690 in costs and a £128 victim surcharge. Disqualified from keeping animals for life.

My London

Bestiality / Zoophilia, Paedophiles / Sex Offenders

Acklam, Middlesbrough: Paul Tweedy

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CONVICTED (2021) | Paul Tweedy, born c. 1976, of Trimdon Avenue, Acklam, Middlesbrough TS5 – possession of extreme pornography involving a live animal and images of child sexual abuse.

Paul Tweedy pictured outside court.

Sick Tweedy was caught with illegal images of children being sexually abused, as well as an extreme image of a sex act involving a pig.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children; one count of the distribution of an indecent image of a child and to the possession of an extreme pornographic image of a person performing an act of intercourse with a live animal, between March 4, 2019 and April 23, 2021.

The court heard that Tweedy had, “lost his good character in the community” following his arrest, and had to relinquish his position of captain of his local darts team, and leave the cricket team he played for.

It was also heard that Tweedy’s partner is standing by him and she offered a character reference to the court.

Police raided Tweedy’s home after being tipped off by another branch who had uncovered Tweedy uploading an indecent image of a child aged between 10-12, from a Kik chatroom.

Forensic officers found eleven illegal images and videos on Tweedy’s mobile phone.

Four were in the most serious category and featured girls aged 4-11 in, “obvious pain and distress” being sexually abused.

Tweedy had opened a Kik account with the username, ‘HandyAndy’.
Police traced the user’s IP to Tweedy’s previous address on Edgeworth Court in Hemlington.

Defending Tweedy, Kelleigh Lodge said that he genuinely regretted his actions and was, “disgusted at some of the images”.

Miss Lodge told the court that Tweedy had downloaded Kik with the intention of chatting with adults on the site that boasts, “anything goes” and that he had inadvertently come across the images of children being abused.

But Judge Jonathan Carroll told Miss Lodge: “I find that difficult to accept. If you stumble across those images you don’t stay in the chatroom and don’t save any. I know what he says and I reject that submission”.

Tweedy said he was only attracted to women over the age of 16, and men over the age of 18.

Sentencing: eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 24-months; 120 hours of unpaid work; curfew; 25 rehabilitation days. Ordered to attend a training programme for offenders who access child abuse online. He was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for ten years and will sign the sex offenders register.

Teesside Live

Cats

Caldicot, Monmouthshire: Rebecca Davies

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CONVICTED (2021) | Rebecca Davies, born c. 1967, of 3 Stafford Road, Caldicot NP26 5DE – left her cat to suffer with an ulcerated tumour on her leg.

Mitzi
Mitzi

Rebecca Davies failed to provide veterinary treatment for an ulcerated tumour on her pet cat’s leg, which eventually required amputation.

Davies pleaded guilty to the two offences, both of which concerned five-year-old tortoiseshell cat Mitzi.

She was first visited by RSPCA inspector Christine McNeil on May 6, 2020, following welfare concerns regarding Mitzi.

The inspector was told the cat, who was out, had a sore on her left hind leg, which appeared to be getting worse and was causing her to be lame.

Davies said she had no way of getting Mitzi to a vet, didn’t think they were open, and that funding was an issue.

The following day, the RSPCA arranged for Mitzi to be seen to by a vet. The vet who examined Mitzi later that morning confirmed she had a tumour of some sort and would have been suffering for at least three weeks. She said the limb would need to be amputated and tests carried out to see whether the tumour had spread.

Mitzi was given pain relief and the vet advised that the leg would need operating on in a maximum of seven to 14 days.

Inspector McNeil telephoned Davies on May 12 for an update, magistrates heard. Davies told the inspector that she had been in contact with a vet and had sent them Mitzi’s photos and notes. She was unable to provide the name of the vet she had spoken to, but thought it might be ‘Catherine’.

Subsequent calls revealed that the veterinary practice had not provided any advice regarding treatment, and could not do so without seeing Mitzi first.

Davies was reminded again of her obligations and the fact that Mitzi needed an urgent operation within a specific time frame. Davies said she was still waiting for some money that was owed to her and was trying to do everything she could to get her treatment. She denied her cat was suffering and again declined the offer of transport or signing Mitzi over into the care of the RSPCA.

Two days later, the veterinary practice that Davies claimed to have rung told inspector McNeil they did not have a vet or a nurse by the name of Catherine. On May 26, they confirmed that Mitzi had still not been seen and they had no record of her.

On June 2 inspector McNeil returned to Davies’ house, along with a police officer. By this time, Mitzi’s wound was raw, moist and bleeding, with a strong smell of infection. Davies repeated that she still had no money and was doing everything she could for her cat.

Inspector McNeil immediately took Mitzi to the same vet who had treated her in May. The mass on her leg had grown, measuring between 3 cm and 3.5 cm across, and between 6 cm and 6.5 cm long. She had lost weight and was reluctant to use the leg, which had significantly wasted away due to disuse. A successful operation to amputate her leg was carried out a few days later, and subsequent tests revealed that the tumour had not spread.

Magistrates said Davies’ lack of action amounted to gross negligence and had caused Mitzi serious harm. They said the case crossed the threshold for custody, but they were imposing a suspended sentence because of Davies’ previous good character and the effect that prison would have on her mental health.

Mitzi made a good recovery in the care of the RSPCA following her operation, but sadly was found dead in her kennel five months later.

Sentencing: 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months; £522 in costs and charges. Five-year ban on keeping all animals (expires December 2026).

South Wales Argus