CONVICTED (2024) | Declan Rourke aka Kian Rourke, born 8 January 2003, of Welbeck Road, Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 2HX – starved two dogs, one of them to death.
Rourke, son of deceased sadistic dog killer David Rourke, failed to feed one-year-old cocker spaniel Charlie and 18-month-old springer spaniel Lola a proper diet, causing them to become severely malnourished.
The RSPCA launched an investigation after Charlie was taken into a vet in Wallsend, North Tyneside, described as being unconscious after hitting his head. However the vets who urgently examined him discovered he was sadly dead. He weighed just 4.5kg.
Rourke told staff he couldn’t afford to feed him.
Inspector Lucy Green, who led the investigation, said in her witness statement: “The vet said he was emaciated, had faeces in his mouth and that they had been given three different accounts of what had happened to [him].
Charlie’s body was covered in fleas and flea dirt and all his ribs were visible along with his hips and spine.
Rourke told them he had been trying to rehome the dog for months.
Being aware that Rourke had a second dog, Lola, vets told Rourke to bring her into the surgery, which he did. She weighed just 6.2kg and had a body condition score of one against an ideal score of four or five out of mine
A second vet said of the deceased dog Charlie that “there was no clear indication of cause of death – other than from starvation. This dog would have been suffering for a period of time greater than four weeks.”
Rourke pleaded guilty to three offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Lola was signed over to the RSPCA and after being nursed back to health by the team at RSPCA Northumberland West branch was adopted.
Sentencing |18-week custodial, suspended for 12 months; 80 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days; £154 victim surcharge. Disqualified from keeping animals for five years (expires June 2029).
They get away with it all too easily