These shocking pictures show the devastating state of two pet dogs who were hidden in a CUPBOARD and left to starve to death.
Teesside Magistrates’ Court heard Bisto, a mastiff-type dog, and terrier Mogo were subjected to prolonged neglect involving months, if not years, of starvation resulting almost to the point of death.
Graham Burn, 47, and Ann Boddy, 34, had even hid the two pups in a locked cupboard under the stairs in an attempt to avoid an RSPCA inspector.
RSPCA inspector Lucy Hoehne had been visiting Burn and Boddy for over a year due to concerns for the dogs’ welfare which was going well until the pair eventually lied and said they no longer owned the dogs.
Inspector Hoehne said: “I’d been giving advice and offering assistance and, initially, they made some improvements but then they stopped answering the door to me or letting me in.
“Eventually, when I managed to speak to them, they told me they didn’t have the dogs anymore, but I was able to establish that the dogs were actually being kept locked in a cupboard under the stairs.”
The RSPCA returned to the property in November last year and Bisto and Mogo were found to be in an emaciated condition and were taken to a vet.
Inspector Hoehne said: “Bisto was severely emaciated, weighing just 18.1kg and with a body condition score of one out of five.
“I’d expect an adult male mastiff to weigh around 30kg and, while Bisto seems to be a crossbreed, he was severely underweight, malnourished and starving.
“He was heavily soiled, stank, had pressure sores and an old fracture injury to his tail.”
She added: “Mogo weighed just 7.8kg and had a body condition score of 1.5 out of five. She was also heavily soiled and smelt strongly of ammonia, and was suffering from inflamed eyes.
“Their owners said they couldn’t afford to feed them properly and were too ashamed to take them to a vet.
“This is a clear example of prolonged neglect and by the time we were able to remove the dogs they were skeletal.”
Burn and Boddy, both from Hartlepool, County Durham, were convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to Bisto and Mogo by failing to explore and address their weight loss.
They were both jailed for 12 weeks and given a lifetime ban from keeping any kind of animals.
Both dogs have since been signed over into RSPCA care and rehomed.
Read The London Economic’s article “So cruel! Abandoned dog is one of the skinniest RSPCA has ever seen” Click Here
