LLANDYSUL: Lifetime animal ban after man’s dog starved to death, and another tore the letterbox off to reach food

Warning: this article contains images and details of animal suffering that some readers may find distressing.

When an RSPCA inspector pushed dog food through the letterbox of a house in Drefach Felindre, near Llandysul, the starving dog behind the door tore the letterbox off to get to it.

That dog, three-year-old Charlie, survived. Suki, the 12-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier he lived with, did not.

Their owner, Ricky Harrison, 42, of Parc Puw, has been banned from keeping animals for life after admitting causing both dogs unnecessary suffering under the Animal Welfare Act.

At Aberystwyth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 9 September, he was given a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a two-year community order. The order includes 26 sessions of the Building Better Choices programme and 25 rehabilitation activity days, and he was ordered to pay £400 costs and a £187 surcharge.

One dog at the door, and no sign of the second

The court heard that RSPCA Inspector Jemima Hanks-Martin went to the house on 14 November last year after a report that dogs had been left alone there.

Nobody answered. The blinds were shut and the side gate was blocked by a fallen fence panel. She could hear only one dog, jumping at the letterbox so hard she could not open it fully.

She sealed the door, a step the charity takes because it has no power to go in, and rang Harrison. He told her a friend was going in once a day to feed the dogs.

When she returned the next day, the seals were unbroken. “As I had concerns that no one had attended for at least 24 hours I pushed some wet dog food through the letterbox,” she said in a statement to the court.

By the time she came back from her van with water, the dog had torn the inside of the letterbox off the door.

Through the gap she saw a dark-coloured dog that “appeared very underweight, its ribs, hips and spine were all visible”. She poured water through, and he licked and ate what she had given him.

‘She’s gone’

Harrison came to the house and told the inspector he had not seen the dogs for a week, but that a friend was meant to be visiting.

He brought Charlie out first. When he went back in for the second dog, the inspector said, he came out “crying and shaking his head”, saying: “She’s gone.”

Suki’s body was emaciated, with her bones prominently showing. A vet later estimated she had died 24 to 48 hours before she was examined.

Both dogs scored one out of nine on the body condition scale vets use, where four or five is normal.

Starvation confirmed as the cause of death

A post mortem confirmed that Suki starved to death. Her gut was completely empty, meaning she had had no continuous food for at least 48 to 57 hours.

Non-edible material was found inside her, which the vet said showed she could still eat and had an appetite, “but no nutritious food was available”.

Neither dog showed any sign of an underlying illness that could explain their condition, the vet said, estimating that both had suffered for at least three weeks.

It had not always been this way. When the inspector saw both dogs over the garden fence in July last year, after an earlier report of them being left alone, she said they “appeared to be alert, responsive and in an ideal body condition”.

In mitigation, the court heard Harrison had mental health issues at the time and accepted the prosecution case.

Charlie’s second chance

Charlie was hospitalised, then put on a feeding plan to rebuild his weight. He made a full recovery and was rehomed in February by the RSPCA’s Llys Nini branch.

Inspector Hanks-Martin said: “It is heartbreaking to imagine what Suki and Charlie may have gone through. Although it was too late for Suki, thankfully Charlie recovered fully and has been happily rehomed.”

She added: “All animals deserve to be treated with kindness and should have their needs met. Anyone who is struggling should seek help.”

It is the second lifetime ban in a run of animal cruelty cases across the region this summer. In July, a Bonymaen woman was banned for life after her Dalmatian starved to death.

Suspected animal cruelty can be reported to the RSPCA’s cruelty line on 0300 1234 999. Anyone struggling can contact Samaritans free, day or night, on 116 123.