CONVICTED (2017) | Samantha Bevan, born c. 1985, of Fleet Lane, St Helens WA9 – allowed her pet rabbit to starve to death

Single mother-of-five Samantha Bevan pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering after failing to provide a “nutritionally balanced diet” to the rabbit, named Rocco. The family pet died of malnutrition in October 2016.

Peter Mitchell, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said inspectors knocked at Bevan’s door after receiving information that a rabbit had died at the premises.

He told the court: “The defendant readily admitted that it had died and said she had given it to a friend to bury in her garden, as she was unable to bury it herself.

“That individual gave permission to exhume the body, and the inspector noticed the animal looked very thin. A post mortem gave the cause of death as malnutrition, and the vet put the length of suffering at four weeks.”

Mr Mitchell said Bevan was interviewed and initially denied the offence, claiming she had been feeding Rocco broccoli because he had stopped eating rabbit food.

However she later admitted she “didn’t know what she was doing” in terms of looking after a rabbit.

District judge Wendy Lloyd, suggested to Mr Mitchell: “What we are talking about here is a case of ignorance rather than deliberate cruelty.”

Laurence Lee, defending Bevan, said his client was a single parent of five children who worked part-time in a local cafe.

He said: “It’s quite clear that she didn’t know what she was doing as far as this animal is concerned. She tells me (Rocco) would reject rabbit food and seemed to prefer – not that he could specify in a way she could understand – green vegetables.

“She had no idea it was suffering, and it is clear she cared for the animal; she tells me she would take it inside when it was raining.”

However Judge Lloyd interjected and said: “Her animal did suffer. Let’s be honest with one another, it starved to death. You don’t need to be an expert to notice the animal is extremely thin.”

The court heard Bevan, who has no previous convictions, was deeply upset by the death of the rabbit as were her children.

Judge Lloyd, passing sentence, said: “You should have recognised the animal was ill and it needed to be seen by a vet.

“You should have taken it to a vet or called the PDSA, there was no need at all for it to suffer.”

Sentencing: ordered to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work and to pay £385 in costs and charges. Banned from keeping animals for five years (expired March 2022).

Liverpool Echo