Tragedy as dog is left to starve to death in Rotherham drug dealer's filthy flat
A Rotherham drug dealer who neglected his two dogs - resulting in one of them dying - has been jailed.
Jordan Brown, aged 27, of Laudsdale Road, left the two dogs - a young German Shepherd type called Sirius and a bull breed called Knox - unattended for as long as a week, the RSPCA revealed.
One night residents heard screams and yelps from inside the flat - believed to have been when one of the dogs was being attacked by the other.
When the starved dogs were found, they had drunk every drop of water in the house, including that in the toilet bowl.
At Brown’s sentencing hearing at Sheffield Crown Court, the judge described the pets as ‘skeletal.’
He was also sentenced over a “brick of heroin” worth over £16,000 found hidden in the flat.
Flat ‘littered with faecal matter, clumps of fur, and body of one dog’
The court heard that RSPCA Inspector Jennie Ronksley went to the address on Laudsdale Road on May 13, 2025, following a report that the two dogs had been left unattended inside.
The door to the flat had a boarded up pane of glass and as the RSPCA officers approached the property, there was a strong smell of faeces.
Looking through the letterbox, the inspector saw a bully-type dog standing over a black German Shepherd lying on his side, clearly dead. There were faeces and fur on the floor of the hallway.
In her written statement to the court, Inspector Ronksley said: “[The dead dog’s] body condition was poor and his bones were easily felt, even beneath his dense fur. He had obvious wounds to his neck and other areas of his body.
“The hallway was littered with piles of faecal matter and clumps of fur. Inside the kitchen were more piles of faeces and lots of litter. There was a large black training crate which was empty aside from trodden in faecal matter.
“A cable tie hung loose from the kitchen door where the handle should be and I wondered if this had been intended to keep the door closed and the dogs apart.
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“Towards the end of the hallway was a large dog bed. To the left was a square area leading to the bathroom, the floors of both were again littered with faecal matter and grime.
“There were empty and overturned bowls on the floor throughout the address, four in total, but all were empty and bone dry. So too were the bath, the sinks and even the toilet bowl. The dogs had no access to drinking water at all or any food source.”
Bitten to death
The vet who examined six-month-old Sirius said he had a matted coat with dried faeces and several puncture wounds. A post mortem identified foreign material in his stomach and it concluded the injuries were most consistent with a bite injury from another dog.
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Knox was also found to be severely underweight and taken away by police.
However, examinations ruled he was an XL Bully breed, and he was subsequently put to sleep to comply with Government legislation as organisations cannot rehome or transfer ownership of the banned breed.
Pain and suffering
Brown failed to take reasonable steps to prevent him from being caused pain, suffering and distress, said the vet, and the dogs had suffered “for a number of weeks” from reduced or inappropriate nutrition.
Two-year-old Knox was described as being “severely underweight” and given the lowest body condition score possible. The vet said he had also been suffering from malnutrition for the same period of time.
Sentencing him on January 6, the judge said: “They were both in skeletal states. This wouldn’t have happened if the dogs were not left alone or if the dogs were not starving. Anyone who understands the faithfulness and loyalty of a dog will be disgusted in how you treated these dogs.”
Brown was jailed for eight months for each animal welfare act offence and banned from keeping animals for 10 years.
In mitigation the court heard Brown was a cocaine user and was not able to provide for himself, let alone the dogs. He was said to be deeply ashamed about what had happened and was remorseful.