10-year animal ban for Wigan woman who let pet dog suffer

A woman has been banned from keeping animals for 10 years after her emaciated pet dog was found dead in her rubbish-strewn garden shed.

Kelly Hare left Bieber, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, to suffer after the dog swallowed a 30cm by 12cm baby or kitchen wipe later found in the animal's stomach.

Hare, of Canberra Road, Wigan, Greater Manchester, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to her dog between March 20 and April 10 by failing to find out the causes of his poor body condition and weight loss.

She was banned from keeping animals for 10 years at Wigan Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, the RSPCA said.

After the hearing, RSPCA inspector Claire Fisher said: "One of our officers attended Hare's house after a call from a concerned member of the public and saw Bieber dead in a shed in her rubbish-strewn back garden.

"I arrived 36 minutes later and Bieber's body was gone.

"We found Hare at a neighbouring house and she told us that she had no idea that her dog was dead or where his body was, but the following day I got a call from a police officer who had attended a disturbance and said they thought they knew where Bieber had been buried.

"We went straight to the address, which was connected to Hare, and Bieber was exhumed from a freshly dug grave.

"He was extremely emaciated and a post-mortem found he had ingested some kind of wipe, possibly a baby wipe or cleaning wipe of some kind, which was a huge 30cm x 12cm in size. He had been dead for at least a week.''

As well as the disqualification, Hare was sentenced to a 12-month community order including 220 hours of unpaid work. She was ordered to pay #400 costs and an #85 victim surcharge.

Inspector Fisher added: "Despite five appointments being made to interview Hare, she didn't show up so we don't know exactly what happened to Bieber in the weeks or months before his death, but expert opinion is that tragically he suffered for at least three weeks before he died."

• Wigan
• RSPCA