Woman let dog's fur become so matted it had to be put down

A dog had to be put down because its fur became so matted that it stopped the blood supply to her lower leg and caused skin on her foot to turn black.

Terrier Trixie's condition was so bad that part of her skin had been "cheese wired" by bands of hair and matting which had cut into the flesh. RSPCA Cymru said it caused “irreparable damage to her foot”.

Trixie's coat was also so severely matted in places that she could not even see properly.

The neglect was only discovered when the dog's owner, 72-year-old Linda Jones from Gwelfor in Llanelli, took her to the PDSA in Swansea in January. Whilst there the dog was put to sleep on welfare grounds.

Despite that, photos and medical notes of Trixie's suffering were kept and reported to the RSPCA. From there a RSPCA Inspector visited Mrs Jones' home in Llanelli on January 11 to ask about the circumstances which led to the dog's death.

Mrs Jones denied the allegation of neglect and said there had been nothing wrong with her pet.

However she has now pleased guilty to one animal welfare offence relating to the “unnecessary suffering” caused to her dog between 5 October 2021 and 5 January 5 2022.

Mrs Jones had originally told the RSPCA that the dog’s paw had been bad for only two weeks and that her intention was to get her coat dealt with once her foot had been treated and healed.

However, the vet who examined Trixie for the PDSA said she was found to be non-weight bearing on her left front leg, which was foul smelling, and that she was anxious and in visible pain.

Evidence read out in court from the vet said: “I was able to see the skin had been ‘cheese wired’ by the bands of hair and matting and had cut into the flesh revealing her flexor tendons and underlying fascia.

“It was also possible to see bone when the limb was flexed.

“The hair I was able to remove around her pads and toes revealed black, cold skin that was becoming necrotic. I believe this is what was causing the smell... Unfortunately this had cut off the vasculature to the distal limb which had died off.

“Mrs Jones advised that the duration of lameness was about a week, suggesting Trixie had been painful enough to not use the limb for that time as a minimum.

"In my opinion the changes to the limb had likely happened over a longer period of probably at least three weeks.

"This is not taking into account the discomfort Trixie would have been in with a heavily matted coat, which was likely of at least three months duration.”

Jones was given an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months and has been banned from keeping any animals for 10 years.

She has also been ordered to carry out ten days of rehabilitation and told to pay £428 in costs and a surcharge.