Woman banned for failing to keep dog fed

A mother-of-three from Bilston who spends £20 a week on cigarettes but admitted not always feeding her pet dog has been banned from keeping animals for five years.

Staffordshire bull terrier Roxy was so thin its bones could be seen through its coat when RSPCA officers rescued her from 25-year-old owner Louise Lewis.

Wolverhampton Magistrates Court heard yesterday that the one-year-old pedigree dog was also suffering fur loss, had mites and was mildly dehydrated.

A vet rated Roxy as being "significantly emaciated".

Lewis, of Clinton Road, was sentenced to a five-year ban from keeping, owning or participating in owning any animals and a 12-month community order. She was also ordered to pay £250 toward RSPCA's court costs.

She pleaded guilty to three charges of failing to provide the dog with an adequately wholesome and nutritious diet, not investigating why it was underweight and failing to provide it with the proper veterinary care in relation to a skin disease.

Mrs Gaynor Sutton, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, told the court that Roxy could suffer permanent hair loss around the muzzle as a result.

She said an inspector visited Lewis' home and took the dog away after finding it in a poor state, chewing on empty yoghurt pots and subdued in January following a tip-off from a concerned resident.

Lewis was interviewed a few days later and admitted she did not take Roxy for walks because she thought she had enough exercise in the garden and she had not had her injections.

Mrs Sutton told the court: "She said she fed Roxy pet mince which she cooked once a day, unless she forgot.

"She spends £20-a-week on cigarettes but did not always feed her dog. Had Roxy been wormed and fed appropriately this wouldn't have happened."

District judge David Miller told her: "Animals depend on humans for their basic levels of need. You have failed miserably at that."