Life ban for owner of dog left to starve
The owner of a dog left to starve to death on the balcony of a flat in the Black Country has been given a suspended prison sentence and a life ban on keeping animals.
A male and a female Staffordshire bull terrier had been living in a flat by themselves while their owner lived on the floor above, a court was told.
Magistrates said they were "absolutely horrified" by the evidence.
Andrew Jason Wheeler aged 21, of Burnham Court, Lower Derry Street, Brierley Hill, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering and two counts of failing to take reasonable steps to prevent two dogs from suffering.
He was given an 18-week sentence for each of the four animal welfare offences to run concurrently, suspended for two years, at Dudley Magistrates' Court yesterday.
Chairman of the bench, Mr Malcolm Jones, said the sentence reflected the "seriousness" of the case. The bitch had been kept in a plastic kennel on a balcony outside the flat and was found dead by RSPCA inspector Neil Tysall on October 22.
Mr Nick Sutton, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said the female dog had been fed that day and it is believed the shock of the food after a "considerable" period without anything to eat was the cause of the animal's death.
Mr Jones ordered the surviving male dog, to be signed over to the RSPCA to be rehomed. Another man has denied similar offences relating to the dogs and will stand trial at the magistrates' court next month.
