Man whose 'walking skeleton' dog was 'one day from death' banned from keeping animals for ten years
A man has been banned from keeping animals for ten years, after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to his dog.
James Drury, of Coniston Way, Chesterfield, was sentenced on Wednesday October 23.
Drury's dog called Dibbley was so emaciated, that every bone in his body was visible when he was rescued by the RSPCA.
The RSPCA were called to the property by police who had attended for an unrelated matter, but were concerned for the wellbeing of a dog living in the house.
RSPCA Inspector Dave McAdam was sent to the scene and was confronted with the smell of faeces and urine coming from the kitchen floor which was covered in rubbish. In the bedroom of the property he found a Staffordshire bull terrier-type dog called Dibbley, in a severely emaciated state.
He said: “This was amongst the most emaciated dogs I have ever seen that was still alive. The dog was so weak he had trouble walking due to the loss of muscle mass, with experience of nearly thirty years as an RSPCA inspector I knew this dog was close to death."
In a witness statement the vet who assessed Dibbley described him as “a walking skeleton”.He said: “Every major bone in this dog’s body was clearly prominent and evident, he was literally a walking skeleton. This was amongst the worst cases of emaciation I have ever seen, this dog was no more than a day or so away from death. “
At the time of his rescue Dibbley weighed just under 9kgs, but was put on a specialist diet and within six weeks he weighed just over 20kgs.
As well as the ban on keeping animals, Drury was given an 18-month community order and was placed on a “thinking skills” programme for a period of 19 days, along with a 12-day rehabilitation requirement.
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