CONVICTED (2017) | Gary Ian McPhail, born 01/09/1989, previously of Peveril Road, Tibshelf, Alfreton, and more recently Grafton Close, St Albans AL4 0EX – left a rabbit to starve to death in his cage.
McPhail pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the grey rabbit named Bugsy.
The court heard that Bugsy died after not being fed any food for a week at McPhail’s previous home in Alfreton.
RSPCA inspector Rachel Leafe, who investigated, said: “McPhail was well aware that he wasn’t feeding the rabbit and he knew that as a result, the rabbit was suffering a great deal. He said that he could tell the rabbit wasn’t well as he wasn’t moving much.
“When I interviewed McPhail about this, he said he did not have any money to feed the rabbit – yet he did not make any attempt to contact any organisations for help. Instead he left Bugsy to starve to death.
“He actually had a lawn of grass which would have provided some free food for the rabbit. So there was food there for him, but he did not provide it for Bugsy.
“Rabbits have sensitive stomachs and going without food for even just 12 hours can cause them to suffer. The fact that Bugsy went without food for a whole week is unbearable.
“It’s unbelievably cruel to simply leave an animal to slowly die in a cage without the care they need and deserve to survive.”
Sentencing: eight-week curfew; ordered to pay £385. Banned from keeping animals for five years (expired August 2022).
Update August 2018
The Herts Advertiser reported that McPhail had breached a restraining order. He was fined £120 plus £85 costs and £30 towards victim services. The newspaper gave his address as Cairns Close, St Albans.