Lifetime ban for Sheffield couple after 'horrific' cruelty towards elderly Labrador with broken bones
A couple have been given a lifetime ban from owning animals after their Labrador was found barely able to walk with a number of broken bones.
By the time 17-year-old black lab Bessie was taken to the vets they had no choice to put her to sleep.
Her owners, 53-year-old David Ellingworth Dickinson and Donna Marie Dickinson, 44, had taken her to the surgery after she had suffered a seizure.
But the couple of Helsey Road, Shiregreen, were told that they needed to have brought Bessie for treatment earlier as she had become incredibly ill.
Bessie was so infirm that she could not walk, had a body score of one out of a possible nine, suffered fur loss, flea infestation, swollen joints and broken bones.
During a sentencing at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on October 31, the magistrates’ chair told the pair: “This is a horrific case of cruelty to a dog. No living thing should be expected to suffer to the extent seen in this case.
“There were aggravating features because it was clear you ignored obtaining professional veterinary advice whilst Bessie was kept in an appalling state of suffering.”
The defendants admitted causing Bessie unnecessary suffering, by failing to provide veterinary care for health problems including poor body condition, reduced mobility and skin disease.
They were banned from keeping animals for life, handed 26-week jail terms suspended for a year and ordered to pay £200 costs and a £154 victim surcharge.
Magistrates ruled that David Dickenson should carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and up to eight Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.
His wife was told to complete 10 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days and 50 hours of unpaid work, plus a 12-month Mental Health Treatment Requirement programme.
RSPCA Inspector Jennie Ronksley said in a statement to the court that the defendants took Bessie to a PDSA surgery in November last year, where vets felt it best to put her to sleep.
She said Bessie had fur loss, swollen legs and feet, broken bones and pressure sores, adding: “The dog was described as emaciated and had an exposed bone protruding from the end of its tail.”
One vet’s report said she was “emaciated” and “covered with fleas”, had a dry cough, multiple scabs on skin and pressure sores on her legs. Her feet, elbows and carpal joints were swollen and she had significant muscle wastage and a tail broken in several places.
It concluded that she had been “recumbent” for “at least two weeks - suggesting a period of suffering of at least two weeks, possibly longer.”
A second vet called it “one of the most shocking cases” they had seen in many years of working alongside the RSPCA.
“It is clear that Bessie has been made to suffer horrendous pain at the hands of her owners through sheer neglect. It is also clear that it would have been obvious to the owners that Bessie was suffering,” they said.
In mitigation, it was said that they had both admitted guilt at an early stage, co-operated, were ‘genuinely remorseful’ and felt a ‘sense of shame’.
David Dickinson had also been unable to work since having a stroke two years ago while his wife had experienced ‘significant’ mental health problems.
An RSPCA spokesperson said: “This is an extremely sad case. Bessie was an elderly dog and therefore, even more care should have been taken to have her health monitored properly.
“That care was not taken and, as the court said, she was forced to endure great pain and suffering.”