Greyhound owner gets life pet ban

A woman has been banned from keeping animals for life after her pet dog was found seriously underweight and riddled with fleas.

Jane Filmer, from Burntwood, pleaded guilty to two charges of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal after the RSPCA were called in when the charity received a tip-off about the state of her female Greyhound Cassie.

RSPCA prosecutor John Sutcliffe told Burton Magistrates Court that Cassie was extremely underweight and suffered with a heavy flea infestation.

Mr Sutcliffe said an RSPCA inspector went to the 42-year-old's home on July 1 last year and found Cassie in the kitchen smelling of "yeast" and looking "skeletal".

He said the inspector noted that Cassie was constantly scratching and generally looked neglected.

The court heard that Filmer, of St Matthew's Avenue, told the RSCPA that she had been trying to treat Cassie's flea problem herself with an over-the-counter product as she could not afford to take her to the vet.

Mr Sutcliffe said, with Filmer's permission, the inspector took the dog to a vets in Cannock to determine Cassie's 'body score'.

Animals are given a score on a scale of nought to nine, with nine being of obese and nought being close to death, and Cassie had a score of one.

The vet said Cassie's whole body was covered in fleas, particularly her tail, face and ears.

Before Cassie was taken away, she was given medicinal shampoo and a steroid injection to help with the itching.

Filmer returned to the vets with Cassie on August 1 and all her fleas had gone and she had put on 21kg.

The court heard that Mrs Filmer had been feeding her dog, but she did not have an explanation Cassie's thin state.

Defending her in court, Terry Perry said Filmer was not an uncaring person and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

He said: "She didn't totally neglect the dog, she went to the shops for sprays and shampoo and when the RSPCA went to the house she was sat in her basket, in the kitchen, she wasn't kept outside in the coal shed."

Mr Perry said the RSPCA even inspected a bottle of shampoo which had been half used and Filmer had brought new bedding for the dog after taking advice from a pet shop.

Filmer was banned from keeping animals for life, was given a conditional discharge for nine months and ordered to pay £250.