1 week Ago By [email protected] (David Huntley)
A Darlington man has been banned from keeping animals after keeping his starving dog in filthy conditions. Alfred Patrick Gallagher kept his dog, Lucy, in a kennel that was piled high with faeces without adequate access to food and water. The young mallinois weighed just 14.
5kg when found and was suffering from chronic stress. Lucy would also drink entire bowls of water 12 hours after being discovered. Gallagher, 25, of Woodland Road, Darlington, was sentenced at Peeterlee Magistrates’ Court last week.
He was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months and was banned from keeping all animals for 10 years. He must pay £720 costs and a £154 victim surcharge. An RSPCA officer who attended the address where Lucy was being kept, told the court: “I could hear a dog barking and crying in a kennel-type structure.
I then looked into the kennel building where the dog was barking and saw a brown malinois-type dog in extremely poor bodily condition and living in absolutely filthy conditions. “Although the dog bowl on the wall was full of dry food, the dog had no access to water and the smell and living conditions were disgusting. The dog appeared petrified and was cowering in the corner of the enclosure which was littered with faeces, some of which had dried white and some of which was mouldy.
" They added: “It smelt incredibly strongly of faeces and urine so much that it took my breath away. The enclosure was very cold with empty cans and a broken jar strewn across the walkway area. It was a depressing room to be in.
Lucy had no access to any clean living area or comfortable bedding and was forced to walk through and stand in faeces.” Given the extent of the conditions, the RSPCA made a call to Durham Police to provide assistance at the address. The officer added in a witness statement that the dog “had no drinking water present despite that to the side of the kennel, there was a tap which had running water”.
They said that the “dog was very frightened and aggressive". The officer took her immediately to a vet where a video shows her drinking an entire bowl of water, lapping it down thirstily. Gallagher claimed that he was paying a man to look after Lucy but he didn’t know where this man lived.
A vet said Gallagher deprived Lucy of food, water, and adequate shelter as well as failing to address her obvious deterioration in body condition. In mitigation, Gallagher said that someone else was supposed to be looking after the dog. After being rescued, Lucy gained weight and started to look more healthy, however, her earlier aggression continued at the private boarding kennels where she was being cared.
Sadly, Lucy was put to sleep due to her severe behavioural issues. An RSPCA spokesperson said: “This was a sad case where this poor dog had been neglected and left in her own filth without adequate food or water for considerable time. Understandably, Lucy was wary and aggressive towards people after everything she had been through.
It’s an example, not just of the physical state animals can suffer from but the emotional scars too and it’s heart-breaking that this didn’t have a happier ending for poor Lucy.” Join our County Durham WhatsApp community for all the latest news County Durham news sent direct to your phone. To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device.
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