Dogsey

Two Dalmatians were left emaciated after weeks of “profound neglect” by their owners, a court was told.

The dogs, Porsha and Enzo, were chained up in a kitchen overnight and during the day, as one of their owners Julie Harris was visually impaired and worried that she might fall over them, Telford Magistrates Court heard.

Both Julie Harris, 42, and her husband Neil Harris, 49, of Leadon Close, Little Dawley, Telford, each pleaded guilty to two charges of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, but denied a third charge of failing in their duty to care for the dogs by providing adequate bedding.

Magistrates found them guilty of the latter charge, accepting the prosecution case that the wooden floor on which the dogs had been kept had breached guidelines on animal care.

The dogs were discovered in February during a visit by an RSPCA inspector who had been called to the home on another matter.

Mr Roger Price, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said that Mr Harris had told police officers who were called to his home that they could not take “his dogs”.

But in a later interview he placed all the responsibility for their upkeep on his wife, who is visually impaired and has mobility problems.

Magistrates heard that Mrs Harris had admitted in interview that she had been in charge of feeding and caring for the dogs except for exercise, but had only given them 1.5 cups of food a day when their size and breed needed four.

Mr Price said the couple’s treatment of the dogs was “profound neglect”.

Vet William Walker told the court the dogs were emaciated. On a scale of one to 10 where 10 is obese the dogs, which were lacking in basic muscle mass and had chronic lesions, were rated one, he said.

Mr Marcus Kraehling-Smith, for Mr and Mrs Harris, said the dogs had slept on a carpeted floor and that their lesions were caused by their weight loss and lack of fat-padding, not their environment. He said Mr Harris had thought the dogs were ill and had been treating them with a homoeopathic remedy.

Magistrates dismissed these versions of events as the prosecution argued that the dogs had been kept chained up on a bare wooden floor and had not shown any significant signs of disease.

Sentencing was adjourned until December 3 for the preparation of reports. The dogs have been handed over to the RSPCA.