CRUEL EDINBURGH MAN WHO LEFT DOG AND EIGHT PUPPIES TO STARVE IS SPARED JAIL TIME
An Edinburgh man who allowed his dogs to become emaciated has avoided jail time.Earlier this year, Keenan Watson pled guilty to three charges at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
He admitted causing one adult dog and eight puppies unnecessary suffering by failing to provide an adequate diet or veterinary care.
Watson’s dogs were found to be significantly malnourished when they were rescued following a month of monitoring from the Scottish SPCA back in 2023.
He has now been sentenced to 90 hours of unpaid work, a 13-week restriction of liberty order between the hours of 7pm and 7am, and a five-year ban from owning, keeping, and controlling all animals after he deprived the mother dog and her litter of puppies of veterinary care.
Calls were received to the charity’s Helpline after dogs were heard yelping from within the property.
A Scottish SPCA Inspector attended in March 2023.
The dogs' ribs were showing, and they were in an unacceptably low body condition.
The adult dog and her eight puppies, aged between just eight and nine weeks, were taken for veterinary examination.
The vet concluded that the animals were severely malnourished, with one puppy suffering from a significant underbite causing trauma to its lower palate, and others having heart murmurs, umbilical hernias, and swollen abdomens.
Watson was given advice on feeding and veterinary care but failed to follow up, and after initial compliance, he continued to underfeed them.
The Scottish SPCA Inspector Fiona Thorburn expressed satisfaction with the court's decision and emphasized the importance of a national animal offenders register to monitor individuals convicted of cruelty.
