A woman who failed to get veterinary treatment for her dog who was suffering from serious health issues has been disqualified from keeping animals for seven years.
Abigail Barker of Raylands Way in Leeds, left female French bulldog Cookie with what a vet described as ‘severe’ skin lesions and a ‘chronic’ bilateral ear infection. The dog also had extensive fur loss on her face and body which had been made worse by her scratching and itching the affected areas.
Barker was given the ban at a sentencing hearing at Kirklees Magistrates Court on Friday 3 January after being found guilty of two Animal Welfare Act offences at a trial last month following an investigation and prosecution by the RSPCA.
Magistrates were told that RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer (ARO) Kris Walker had gone to the defendant’s house on 12 January last year to check on the welfare of a dog living there.
In his written evidence to the court the officer said: “I saw a fawn female French bulldog type dog named Cookie in the kitchen area of the property. She appeared to be a good body weight, and was bright and alert, however she had an obvious skin condition. There was hair loss over her back, her skin was sore on her feet and they were red and swollen.
“Miss Barker advised that she had previously attended the PDSA with Cookie as she had mange, but once the skin condition came back she did not return.”
The court was told that Barker, who had previously treated the dog with various over the counter remedies, was given an improvement notice by the officer and warned that she must take Cookie back to see a vet.
At the beginning of February ARO Walker visited again to check if the RSPCA’s advice had been followed. Barker brought Cookie outside and told the officer that she had not taken the dog to the vet and her condition had got worse. Magistrates were told that Cookie’s skin appeared infected all the way up her legs and was red raw and smelled strongly of infection. Her ears were sore, she had lost weight and appeared despondent.
With Barker’s consent, Cookie was removed from the house by the RSPCA officer to be taken for urgent veterinary treatment. At this point Barker told him that money was not an issue but she didn’t drive. The vet who examined Cookie – who weighed 10.7kg (23.6lbs) – gave her a body condition score of two out of nine. Her ribs, lumbar vertebrae and pelvic bones were easily visible and there were extensive skin lesions affecting her face, ears, trunk, and legs.
The dog’s facial folds were red and inflamed with yellow discharge, her ears severely thickened and the canals narrow and infected.
There was significant hair loss around Cookie’s eyes, ears, abdomen, limbs and toes. The thickening of skin in these areas was consistent with severe and chronic self-trauma from scratching and licking, said the vet. Her nails were also visibly overgrown and curling into the floor. The results of blood tests showed there were no underlying reasons for the dog’s poor body condition and it was likely due to insufficient food.
The vet said that with the right treatment, the prognosis for Cookie’s skin condition was good. She said the extensive and severe state of her skin could have been avoided with routine flea and worming treatment, nail trimming, appropriate nutrition and routine veterinary visits.
In her written evidence the vet said: “It’s my professional opinion, due to her severe, extensive, and chronic itchy skin as well as the bilateral chronic ear infections, that the person responsible for Cookie caused her unnecessary suffering and had failed to meet the dog’s needs via the appropriate veterinary attention and treatment.
“A reasonable owner would recognise and seek treatment for such diffuse dramatic skin lesions and scratching. These problems were clearly visible due to her loss of hair, prominent discharge and malformation of ears and her frequent scratching behaviour.”
The vet felt that “from the severity of the skin lesions that Cookie had suffered for a minimum of four weeks.”
Cookie was signed over into RSPCA care by Barker during the course of the investigation. She was cared for by a fosterer from the RSPCA’s Burton upon Trent & District Branch who then decided to adopt her. Two other dogs belonging to Barker have also been rehomed by her prior to sentencing.
As well as the ban, which Barker will not be able to contest for five years, magistrates also ordered her to complete a 12 month community order to include up to 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement Days. Costs of £250 and a victim surcharge of £114 were also imposed.
In mitigation the court heard that Barker, who represented herself, had little to say about the matter other than that she was sorry but she didn’t think the situation was as bad as had been claimed. She said she was ‘well known’ in her local area as an animal lover and had tried her hardest to look after Cookie, but French bulldogs were not easy to care for.
