Leah O’Connor, 24, pleaded guilty to two offenses contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 at Bradford Magistrates Court on April 11, 2023. The court heard that on February 21, 2023, the landlord of a property in Melrose Street, Halifax, discovered two dogs abandoned in the house. One of the dogs, a Rottweiler puppy named Rox, was found dead in a cage without food or water. The other dog, a bulldog named Doris, was found barely alive on top of a bed in an upstairs bedroom.
The RSPCA officer who investigated the case, Demi Hodby, described the conditions in the house as appalling and heartbreaking. She said the house was full of feces and urine, and there was a strong smell of ammonia. The stairs were covered in feces, and there was moldy food all over the kitchen worktops.
Doris was taken to a veterinary clinic for treatment, but she sadly passed away a week later. The vet who examined the dogs said that Doris was severely dehydrated and covered in fleas. He estimated that she had been dead for around four to eight days.
O’Connor told the court that she had rehomed the dogs after leaving the address, but the RSPCA believes that she deliberately abandoned them. The court sentenced O’Connor to a 20-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. She was also banned from keeping animals indefinitely and ordered to carry out 33 RAR days and pay compensation to the landlord.
