North Shields woman given six-year dog ban for starving her underweight puppy
A North Tyneside woman has been banned from owning dogs.
A court heard that Kirsty Gilbert, of Aldwych Drive, in North Shields, had starved her underweight eight-month-old puppy for at least two months and had failed to take the dog to a vet within an agreed time period.
The bull-breed puppy, named Tia, was found at Gilbert’s property and thanks to the RSPCA, it has since made a full recovery and will be rehomed.
An RSPCA inspector had gone to the address on February 25 after the charity had received reports about the welfare of a dog.
Gilbert told the officer that Tia had seen a vet in December 2023, and then showed her paperwork dated from October 2023.
She was given a warning notice about the puppy’s weight and told to ring her vet to get an appointment as soon as possible - which Gilbert agreed to do.
The RSPCA made a call to the veterinary practice on February 29 which revealed that Gilbert hadn’t kept an appointment for Tia and had instead made one for the following week - outside of the time period given to her in the warning notice.
Along with police officers, RSPCA Inspector Helen Bestwick made a follow up visit to Gilbert’s house later that day where the puppy was seized and taken to a vet, before going to a private boarding facility where she gained weight well.
In her written evidence to South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, the RSPCA inspector said: “Miss Gilbert stated there was nothing wrong with the dog, that she wasn’t thin and was fed one tin of dog food a day.
“I was advised the puppy was called Tia and she was eight-months-old. She was brown and white and I noticed immediately that she was in a thin bodily condition with her ribs and spine protruding.
“She had fur loss on her tail and all four feet. There were also scabs on her feet and ears.
“Her coat was urine stained especially on her feet, stomach, chest and chin. She smelt strongly of ammonia.
“Gilbert confirmed she was the owner and that Tia had not been to the vet as advised.”
The vet who examined Tia backed up the claims that the dog’s coat was stained yellow due to urine.
It was also highlighted that Tia’s nailed were overgrown and filthy, she had an infected nail bed, there was large patches of hair loss on her legs and tail, and some scabs were seen over bony prominences.
The vets evidence also stated: “The dog appeared to be healthy, showed good ability to eat and had no underlying disease or condition that would explain her lack of growth and poor body condition.
“Given that she gained weight well during the four week period between vaccines showed that she was healthy and had the ability to grow appropriately.
“After one week in kennels she also managed to gain 0.6kg, double what she had gained in three months with the owner.
“Therefore the cause for the poor growth and weight is likely starvation.
“It is my opinion that Tia suffered from starvation for a minimum of two months. The suffering would have been preventable by providing adequate nutrition.”
In mitigation, the court heard that Gilbert had “suffered significantly” with her mental health and had now accepted that she was not capable of looking after animals.
At the sentencing hearing on November 19, Gilbert has handed a six-year ban on owning dogs after being found guilty in her absence at an earlier hearing of three offences contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
She was also given a 12-month community order, which includes 12 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a six-month mental health treatment requirement was also imposed, as well as a £40 fine and £200 in costs.