Woman's pets left to starve
A Dudley woman abandoned three pets, two dogs and a cat, in squalour without food and water for nearly a month until RSPCA inspectors broke in, a court heard.
A Labrador dog was found dead from starvation and two other animals, a short-haired kitten and a Jack Russell-type dog, were both found to be suffering from severe dehydration and malnutrition.
Tania Barlow, now of Foster Park, Stourbridge, abandoned the animals when she left the property in Fens Crescent in Brierley Hill on March 10 last year, Dudley magistrates were told yesterday.
Officials for the animal protection charity today said the case was one of the worst they had ever come across.
They described a "scene of squalor" with evidence that the animals had tried to eat anything they could find in order to survive. An autopsy on the dead dog found pieces of plastic, leather and hair in its stomach.
Barlow, aged 28, was sentenced to three months in jail, suspended for 18 months. She was banned from keeping animals for life. Barlow pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals at an earlier hearing.
Mr Nick Sutton, prosecuting, said Barlow had shown no remorse for her actions.
He told the court: "She left the animals without food or water for three weeks and effectively left them to starve to death when she turned the key in the lock."
Miss Sabhia Pathan, defending, said Barlow was extremely sorry for what she had done but that she felt she had to get away after suffering a number of break-ins at the property.
She was also given 200 hours community service and told to pay £750 costs.
Speaking after the hearing, RSPCA inspector Simon Davies said: "I think it was a very good sentence."
By Jon Wood
