Puppy found starved to death in Goldsborough garden - court

Dazie Howe denied that she owned the female chihuahua/shih tzu cross called Joey when RSPCA inspector Rowena Proctor arrived at her property in Lascelles Place, in Goldsborough near Knaresborough, on February 18, York Magistrates Court heard.

Ms Proctor found the eight months old animal dead in a crate in the rear garden of the property after the charity received a report of a deceased dog.

The female chihuahua/shih tzu cross called Joey (Image: RSPCA) Howe, 26, initially claimed her pet had been euthanised at a veterinary practice and then reappeared in the crate outside her property, before later changing her recollection to say Joey had died of a seizure, the RSCPA said.

A microchip scan revealed that Howe was the animal’s owner.

She pleaded guilty to one offence contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Magistrates disqualified her from keeping all animals for an indefinite period following an investigation and prosecution by the RSPCA at a sentencing hearing in York on Friday (November 1).

The crate the animal was found in (Image: RSPCA) Ms Proctor found Joey dead in a closed crate, covered in a Christmas blanket, which was sodden with piles of faeces and urine when she arrived at the property, magistrates were told.

In her written evidence to the court, the inspector said: “Before I had even explained why I was there, Howe immediately started to say, ‘that dog is not mine, I don’t even know if it is a dog or how it got there, but my dog died and that isn’t her.’”

She added that Howe stood beside her as she examined the crate, asking “if the ‘thing’ in the crate was a dog".

“I used a towel to pick the dog up and placed the body in my van. The dog appeared extremely thin with ribs, pelvis and spine protruding. Maggots were crawling around near to her tail,” Ms Proctor said.

A post mortem showed that Joey had a prominent skeleton and her shoulder, ribs, hind limb bones and pelvis were visible through the skin.

Her stomach was empty of food contents and showed haemorrhages - bleeds within the surface of the stomach lining - which are a frequent finding in starved dogs.

Her small intestine had a scant amount of digesta which contradicted Howe’s report of having fed Joey on the morning of her death, the RSPCA said.

'Suffering was entirely avoidable,' says vet

A vet who gave written evidence in the case after reviewing the findings of the post mortem said Joey was “caused to suffer through starvation”.

They added that the “suffering was entirely avoidable if her needs had been met”.

“If her owner was no longer able to provide for her, her duty and responsibility was to find someone who was able to do so.

“The prolonged suffering was over a minimum of a month and likely longer.”