CONVICTED (2018) | Amy Lee, School Street Flats, Dublin 8 – kept a starved husky in her abandoned flat
Amy Lee was prosecuted for cruelty towards her pet husky named Sky, whom she had left behind in her flat when she left to move in with her mother.
DSPCA inspector Liam Kinsella told the court he went to Lee’s address after receiving a report from gardai [Irish police] and discovered Sky on the balcony.
The accused was co-operative and agreed to surrender Sky to the DSPCA, the court heard.
The husky was seen by a vet who provided a medical report for the court hearing. The report stated the husky weighed 11.6kg at the time she was handed over to the DSPCA.
There was no evidence of illness which could provide a clinical explanation for the weight loss.
Since being rescued Sky was found to have a “ravenous appetite” and has gained 7.2kg, bringing her weight up to 18.8kg. She was soon rehomed with a family and has flourished.
Defence counsel Ann Sheridan told the court her client bought Sky for her family. However, she had suffered health problems and moved back in with her mother but “left the dog behind and was there on and off”.
Pleading for leniency she asked the court to note her client was a single mother on social welfare, had no prior criminal convictions and was very apologetic.
Judge Anthony Halpin said it was a disgraceful case and he described how the photos he had been given showed a beautiful dog who had been “totally emaciated”.
He said Lee had no problem in taking care of her own health but had failed to take her dog to a vet.
The husky was “starved and uncared for and left in a state of suffering,” he said, adding, “how a person can do that to an innocent animal is beyond me.”
“Looking at the photos here would bring any animal lover to tears, it really is disgraceful, shame on you,” he told the accused.
He said, “What this animal was subjected to is inexcusable” and, he added, he had no way of knowing how long the husky was in that condition.
“But for the personal circumstances, of the defendant I would be considering a custodial sentence,” he said.
Sentencing:
Total fines and costs of €200. Lifetime ban on owning any animal.
Dog looks really well now. Maybe he’ll never know she obviously ate all his food….what a fat enormous pig. She cant even look after herself…….what hope for a dog….