CONVICTED (2023) | Mark Gallagher, born 1990, of Gladstone Street, Lemington, Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 8DJ – locked his pet dog in a filthy room with little food and no water.
Crossbreed Tyson was just days from death when he was rescued by the RSPCA. The room in which he’d been trapped by his callous owner Mark Gallagher was covered in faeces and urine. The only furniture was an old dilapidated sofa with no cushions.
The court heard RSPCA inspectors were called to the address where Tyson had been spotted looking out of an upstairs window.
As no one seemed to be in, an inspector placed some sticky tape on the door and returned the following day.
Inspector Terri-Ann Fannon visited the address again and found the tapes were still intact – suggesting nobody had entered the door since.
Tyson could again be seen in the upstairs window and appeared to be in an ‘extremely poor condition’ and was unable to make his way downstairs to the front door.
Terri-Ann requested police assistance who forced entry and found Tyson with a small amount of food and no water in a room covered in faeces and urine.
After being seized and taken to the vets Tyson drank 1.2 litres of water in about three minutes and ate food given to him in seconds.
Prosecutor Alex Bousfield told the court Tyson was “extremely emaciated” when rescued with most of his ribs visible through his fur.
Mr Bousfield described how the dog “drank all the water it was given, very quickly. It drank 1.2 litres of water and just wolfed the food down in seconds.”
An examining vet found that Tyson weighed just 20.6kg and was given the lowest body condition score of 1/9. Vets found no underlying medical cause for his dramatic weight loss and it was due simply to lack of food.
His claws were also overgrown from a lack of wear through exercise.
In interview Gallagher admitted the dog had gone from being stocky to “looking like a whippet” but he had failed to take him to the vet.
He said his partner had left some months earlier and he now had a new girlfriend. He admitted he never took the dog out and left him behind as he spent time at the home of his new partner.
In court, he admitted causing unnecessary suffering to Tyson by failing to adequately explore the cause of the weight loss. He also admitted breach of duty to ensure the animal was provided with a suitably hygienic environment.
Judge Robert Adams said: “In a couple of days the dog would have died. The dog was effectively starving to death. It is thought it would not have survived much longer.
“The pictures are dreadful, the state of the premises is dreadful. It’s just terrible. Any animal lover looking at those pictures would be appalled.
“He has abandoned a dog to meet its fate and in a couple of days the dog would have died.”
Judge Adams said the animal’s weight, at just over 20 kilos, was “as low as it could be without the dog being dead.”
Brian Mark, defending, told the court Gallagher has a history of mental health problems and added: “All this offending is entirely as a result of his mental health and the treatment of that mental health.”
The court heard Tyson, as well as a fish and parrot that were at the house, were signed over to the RSPCA and the dog has been rehomed.
Sentencing | eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months; rehabilitation requirements; £500 costs. Banned from owning an animal for five years (expires January 2028).
Another Mentally Disturbed Scum.
He won’t have no luck for Starving that poor little Dog.
There is absolutely no excuse for this Suffering.
Absolutely Heart Breaking.
Scum such as this shouldn’t keep Animals Full Stop.
Absolute evil gutter rat –
And that has access to children –
Dangerous , fuktard – hope it rots in hell for his cruelty to that dog
Of course just say mental health as an excuse,leave that halfwit in a room to starve to death , hope he drops down dead