A woman has been banned from keeping all animals for five years after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
Rhianne Victoria Saville, 27, was sentenced at Cardiff Magistrates Court on Friday, September 2 after the hearing was told how the dog called Dior was severely underweight and had been suffering. She pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act - including causing unnecessary suffering to Dior by failing to adequately investigate or address the causes of her weight loss and poor bodily condition. She also admitted causing unnecessary suffering to Dior by failing to adequately investigate and address pressure sores to her hocks (heels).
In mitigation it was said that the cruelty was not deliberate. The judge echoed this in sentencing who agreed that the case did not involve deliberate intention - but arose because of neglect and to a degree of incompetence. The judge, however, did not accept that she was unaware of the extent of the malnutrition.
