Poor canine left ‘eaten alive by fleas’ after proprietor deserted him in flat for months

When a member of the general public discovered the poor Shih Tzu canine, he was left deserted and collapsed on the ground, riddled with fleas, with none access to meals or water

A canine proprietor whose pet pooch was “eaten alive by fleas” after he deserted him has been banned from conserving pets.

Darren Hughes, 48, uncared for Chewie the Shih Tzu over a number of months earlier than a member of the general public discovered the canine collapsed on the ground, riddled with fleas, and had no access to meals or water. After being rushed to a vet, he was identified with extreme anaemia and blood loss on account of the flea infestation.

Vets discovered he’d been struggling for an prolonged interval due to the quantity of muscle loss and the extent of dehydration. The situation was so extreme he needed to put down to finish his ache. The RSPCA was referred to as because of the proof of an animal welfare offence.

Hughes, of Islington, north London, was arrested and convicted of neglect and ‘inflicting pointless struggling to an animal’.

He was sentenced at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court the place he was banned indefinitely from conserving all animals. He was additionally sentenced to 18 weeks custody suspended for 18 months and fined £154.

Meanwhile, a cat that was discovered at Hughes’ property shall be rehomed. In proof offered to the courtroom, the vet wrote: “Chewie was struggling for an prolonged size of time, because the preliminary imply corpuscular quantity (MCV) was very low.

“With power anaemia and ongoing blood loss, a number of months are required earlier than the MCV and MCHC lower under reference intervals.

“This affected person’s imply corpuscular haemoglobin focus (MCHC) wasn’t even registered by our laboratory, which is more likely to imply crimson blood cells should not have sufficient haemoglobin. It additionally exhibits thrombocytosis (elevated platelets), which is commonly current in animals with iron deficiency anaemia.”

“The biochemistry blood check outcomes present that he had low creatine, which was seemingly associated to muscle loss, and elevated urea, which is probably going associated to dehydration. He was identified with extreme anaemia as a consequence of his infestation with fleas.”

In mitigation, Hughes’ barrister claimed that an alcohol dependancy resulted in him failing to supply Chewie with obligatory veterinary therapy.

RSPCA Inspector Shahnaz Ahmad stated: “This was a distressing case. Poor Chewie had been left on his personal for big intervals of time whereas he was riddled with fleas. They had been actually consuming him alive.”

“It’s due to a member of the general public alerting us to the situation of this canine that he was punished for his actions. Sadly it was too late to save lots of Chewie, but it surely does imply this individual won’t ever have the ability to neglect pets on this method once more.”