TEENAGE BOY GIVEN 10-YEAR ANIMAL BAN AFTER SQUALID DOG ABUSE IN DONCASTER
The three-year-old dog, Coco, was found cowering in a bedroom by an RSPCA inspector.She was living in an empty property littered with rubbish and dog faeces.
The court heard how an RSPCA officer had issued an advisory notice to the defendant’s mother, Susannah Williamson, aka Susannah Eason, when she visited the property on July 20, 2024.
This contained instructions to adequately feed Coco and improve her living conditions.
RSPCA inspectors Kim Greaves and Vanessa Reid went to the address on October 7, 2024, accompanied by a police officer when Coco was found alone in one of the upstairs bedrooms.
In a statement to the court, Inspector Greaves recalled how the property reeked of a “horrendous smell of faeces and ammonia.” “There was household rubbish and debris on the floor and some of the cupboards in the kitchen were hanging off.
“The property did not look lived in at all as it was very sparsely furnished.
“There was a large sack of dog food on the kitchen side, which was half full, but the dog would not have been able to reach it,” said the inspector.
“The hallway flooring was badly torn up and damaged and there were hazards and debris, including shards of glass possibly from windows which were damaged and boarded up.
“Up the stairs, more faeces and urine were present in both the bedrooms where there were heavily soiled beds.
Coco was in one of the rooms and she was very timid and fearful in her behaviour when we approached her.” The inspectors took Coco to a local vet who confirmed that she was moderately underweight with a body condition score of two out of nine.
The vet concluded: “The living environment was absolutely unfit for a dog to live in and was clearly exposing her to danger and squalor.
“The photographic evidence shows that she was living alongside her own excrement.
There was no food seen and no sign that any enrichment was being provided for her.
The level and nature of the soiling in the property makes it clear that this had been going on for a long period of time.” Coco has since made a good recovery in the care of the RSPCA and will now be rehomed.
The dog’s teenage owner Callum Felton pleaded guilty to failing to meet the needs of the canine under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
In mitigation, the court heard Felton did not regularly visit the property as he had fallen out with his mother and was living with a relative.
He is now said to be “sofa surfing”.
Susannah Williamson/Eason, born c.
1978, of Borrowdale Close, Carcroft, has also been charged with cruelty to Coco but failed to appear in court.
A warrant has been issued for her arrest.
Speaking after the hearing, Inspector Greaves said: “This poor dog was left in appalling living conditions without access to adequate food and water.” Sentencing | 12-month community order, with 70 hours of unpaid work and up to five days of ‘rehab’; court costs of £400 and a victim surcharge of £114.
Banned from keeping animals for ten years (expires November 2035).
