Mother and son banned from keeping animals

May 17 2008 By Paul Suart

A BIRMINGHAM mother and son whose neglect caused their pet greyhound to lose a quarter of its body weight have been banned from keeping animals.

Lynda, aged 54, and Carl Nicholls, aged 24, of Waltham Grove, Kingstanding, failed to regularly feed their greyhound Fudge resulting in its weight dropping to just 18.4kg - almost half the healthy weight for the breed.

At Birmingham Magistrates Court yesterday it emerged that the pair, who pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to their dog, also failed to provide Fudge with sufficient bedding which caused it to develop various wounds including an abscess pressure sore and did not seek veterinary assistance.

Nicholas Sutton, prosecuting, said: "The animal was clearly emaciated. It was terrible.

"These people are not fit to own an animal."

Fudge’s perilous condition was discovered in November last year when West Midlands Police visited an address in Wandsworth Grove, Kingstanding, where the animal was kept.

Stephen Ingram, defending, said: "I sense there is an element of inadequacy on behalf of the defendants leading to this particular transgression.

"They don’t have a cruel or vindictive streak of that nature."

In reaching a verdict, Magistrate Simpkins, said: "We believe the matter in general falls short of the custody threshold.

"However, it’s a serious offence for which there will be a fairly stringent community order."

The Nicholls were ordered to an 18-month community service order, 100 hours of unpaid community work and each fined £500 costs.

Speaking after the case, RSPCA inspector Rob Hartley, said: "It’s fair to say we are pleased with the outcome.

"We feel the magistrates have demonstrated their distaste of the offences and have awarded the appropriate punishment."