A woman from Croydon has been banned from keeping animals for eleven years after her eight-month-old puppy was brought to the vet with “severe” dehydration and hypothermia.
Georgette Georgia Grey, of Blenheim Park Road in Croydon pleaded guilty to an animal welfare offence at Croydon Magistrates Court on December 5.
She was given a three-month suspended prison sentence for causing unnecessary suffering to her pet dog Milo, following a successful investigation and prosecution by the RSPCA.
Her bull breed puppy was taken to the vets on January 20 in a “collapsed, unresponsive state with severe dehydration and hypothermia”.
Milo was given emergency care, but his condition was so severe that vets recommended he was put to sleep to end his suffering.
In mitigation, Grey showed remorse and said she had monetary issues centring around lack of care, child care, and that it was not intentional neglect.
The vet said: “In my professional opinion, the owner failed to meet Milo’s needs in that she did not ensure that he has access to preventative healthcare in the form of his initial vaccination course and ongoing veterinary review.
“Based on his physical presentation, it is highly unlikely that his presentation occurred overnight and he is likely to have been suffering and in a significant level of discomfort for a sustained period of time.
“His low body condition score is likely to have occurred over a matter of months; either as a result of severe neglect, underlying pathological processes or a combination of the two.
“His body weight of 9.1kg on 20th January 2023, was lower than the weight recorded in September 2022, of 9.50kg.
“In my opinion, this shows that he was not growing in line with his expected timescales.
“At the very minimum, it is my opinion that Ms Grey did not seek veterinary assistance from which Milo could have benefitted, leaving him to suffer unnecessarily.”
Inspector Lynn Serrano, who led the investigation for the RSPCA, said: “It was clear that Milo had not received appropriate veterinary care despite continuing to lose weight over a period of months.
“Grey was sentenced for failing to address his poor body condition and weight loss.
“As a result he was left to suffer, and it’s very sad that his life was so short due to a lack of care.”
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