A man from Cardiff 'caused unnecessary suffering' to a dog by failing to get treatment for her after an orthopaedic metal plate became exposed in her leg, a court has heard. Michael Mountstephens, 49, of Glyndwr Road, Ely, was tried at Cardiff Magistrates Court after his female lurcher type dog, Luna, was found with an infected leg in a dirty kennel in December 2021.
The RSPCA sent an inspector to the property following enquiries, who was met by a man who said there were no whippets or lurchers with leg injuries at the property. Inspector Julie Fadden then met another man who said there was a dog in a cage in the back garden with a leg injury but she was "fine."
Inspector Fadden asked to see the dog and was shown into the garden. She said: "I saw a grey whippet/lurcher type bitch in a kennel with a run. The dog was grey with white markings and had an exposed metal plate showing, attached to the bone on her right foreleg.
"The dog was holding her right front foreleg up and I could smell the distinctive smell of infection coming from it, even from a distance. The dog was lean and I could see her ribs and spine. The kennel was dark and dirty with some faeces within and there was no comfortable resting area."
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One of the men said Luna had "recently" been seen by a vet and that her owner was Mountstephens, who was out. Neither man could confirm which vet Luna had been seen by, and when enquiries were made with vet practices in the Cardiff area, none of their records showed they had performed surgery on Luna.
The men eventually agreed to let Luna get urgent veterinary treatment after Inspector Fadden warned that she would bring the police with her on her next visit otherwise. The vet who examined Luna later that day said her owner was responsible for "ongoing serious neglect" as the exposed plate on her leg was extremely obvious.
The vet said: "Luna was mildly lame, being unable to bear some weight on the right foreleg which indicates this was causing pain. It is very likely due to the appearance of the skin surrounding the exposed plate that this wound/exposed bone had been present for a prolonged period, potentially weeks to months, prior to presentation. This would have led to a prolonged period of suffering."
Police were called to attend the vet practice and seized Luna, passing her into the RSPCA's care. The RSPCA launched an investigation in which it was first alleged that Luna didn't belong to Mountstephens and had been dumped at the property, then that he was her owner and had taken her to the vet.
Mountstephens was given a message to urgently ring Inspector Fadden, and that steps would be taken to rehome Luna if he didn't contact the RSPCA within 14 days. The RSPCA kept trying to contact Mountstephens in December 2021 and January 2022 but didn't succeed, so decided to rehome Luna once she had recovered.
RSPCA inspector Christine McNeil, who fostered Luna during her rehabilitation, said: "It was lovely to be able to care for Luna and help her recover from what was a really dreadful ordeal. We started off with short walks to build up the strength in her leg, and her loving, friendly and sociable nature shone through. She liked nothing more than snoozing on my sofa and trying out all my soft furnishings, and I’m so pleased that she’s doing well in her new home."
Luna has now been adopted by another family. Mountstephens was tried at Cardiff Magistrates Court in July 2022. The judge couldn't be sure that Luna was Mountstephens' responsbility for the entire two-year period that was alleged, so could only hand down a verdict based on what happened in the two-month period that Mountstephens accepted.
Mountstephens was found guilty of one charge of causing unnecessary suffering at the hearing and in December 2022 was handed an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for two years due to his caring responsibilities. He was also banned from keeping any animals for 12 months and ordered to pay costs of £500.
At the hearing in July when he was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering, he was found not guilty of failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the needs of Luna were met.
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