Mother who left pet dog to starve to death banned from keeping animals for life
A mother who left a dog to starve to death when she was evicted from her home has been banned from keeping animals for life.
Susanne Nulty abandoned her cavalier King Charles spaniel Todd who suffered for weeks without food or water.
He was found dead by workers who arrived to clear out the property, magistrates heard.
Mother-of-four Nulty, aged 39, of Tatbank Road, Oldbury, told investigators she thought bailiffs would find the dog.
She pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and was given a 12-week jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, at Birmingham Magistrates' Court and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
Todd was found shut in the bathroom but Nulty insisted he had been left in the living room with access to food and water, said Mr Rafe Turner, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA.
Magistrates heard how an RSPCA inspector arrived to find a filthy house and said conditions were among the worst he had seen.
Todd, who Nulty had owned for six years, was found dead among rubbish and children’s toys in the bathroom, Mr Turner said.
He said the dog would have been ‘scared’ and desperate to find food and water in the lead up to his death.
The court heard Nulty left the house in Lichfield on November 2 having been served with an eviction notice. Todd was discovered six weeks later on December 15.
Mr Turner said: “It’s not reasonable to think anybody would have come in the immediate future and to expect someone else to deal with it.”
He added: “He would have been desperate to find food or water and would likely to have been scared or anxious at being left in such a small space on his own for a long time.”
Nulty, who represented herself in court, told magistrates: “I loved the dog to bits. I am totally to blame. I wish I had made more of an effort. I was prioritising where to take my kids. I know that is not an excuse.”
She was told to pay costs of £415.
