CONVICTED (2012) | Lorna Vince (aka Lorna Jackson), born 12/03/1954, of Oakmead Road, Beddington, Croydon CR0 3AS – dumped six emaciated huskies at her daughter’s house
Grandmother Lorna Vince had left the dogs without food or exercise, and the champion canines were so thirsty they tried to drink from a bucket of bleach.
Three of the dumped dogs appeared in the video for Spice Girls hit Goodbye and on the album cover for electronic music duo Goldfrapp.
Vince used to race a team of 10 dogs in events organised by the British Siberian Racing Association.
But Vince’s daughter Chantal and estranged husband Arthur, who would deliver food to her house to help feed the dogs, were so horrified by the sight of the dogs they called the RSPCA, who came to collect them the following day.
The six dogs, named Shade, Coda, Magic, Cashmere, Manson and Red, were rehomed.
In court, Vince denied owning the dogs or leaving them with her daughter.
But she was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, by failing to provide them with an adequately wholesome and nutritious diet.
RSPCA Inspector Rebecca London said: “When I first saw the six dogs it was completely shocking. Compared to how fit and healthy huskies usually are, these dogs were almost like skeletons.”
“This was a horrible case made worse because the owner was an experienced breeder and knew how to look after the dogs properly, but just did not do so.”
Chantal Vince testified against her mum after the dogs were dumped on her doorstep in December 2011.
Chantal, who lives three doors down from her mum, said she was “flabbergasted” at the state of the dogs.
She said: “I couldn’t recognise who was who. They were in need of urgent medical care and all I could think of was the RSPCA.
“They were ravenous, trying to get anything they could, but one was so lifeless I wasn’t sure she would make it through the night.”
Ms Vince said the family had struggled to come to terms with what had happened.
She said: “I still can’t get my head around it, neither can my dad, it is all we have been talking about, trying to figure out what triggered it. We were buying the dogs food for her, but she never said anything.
“We had no idea, I just wish we had stepped in sooner.”
Sentencing: 12-week custodial sentence, suspended for two years. Ordered to pay £500 in costs. Banned from owning pets for life.