A pet owner has been jailed over the “harrowing” neglect of her Jack Russell after the dog was left fighting for its life when an untreated tumour “the size of a huge grapefruit” ruptured.
Martina Kelly, of Ballyfermot Avenue, Kylemore, Dublin 10, received a six-month sentence with the final two months suspended for not obtaining treatment for ‘Lucky’. Kelly pleaded guilty to charges under the Animal Health and Welfare Act at Dublin District Court, where Judge Anthony Halpin described the case as shocking.
“I would have picked it up, even if I had to walk 10 miles, I would have brought it to the vet,” he said. “This dog was going around with a growth the size of a huge grapefruit; she had to be aware of the pain and suffering this poor animal went through.”
The Department of Agriculture prosecuted Kelly, a mother of three, for causing unnecessary suffering, endangering and failing to safeguard the welfare of the 10-year-old dog, who she took in as a stray eight years ago.
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Prosecutor Sarah Reid BL told the court it was a harrowing case due to the level of neglect of Lucky, who began bleeding heavily on October 28th last year.
Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) inspector Shane Lawlor told the court he investigated the circumstances three days later after a call from Kelly offering to surrender the dog. A DSPCA ambulance went to the house and found Lucky had a large growth near his testicles, which had ruptured. The court was told the dog was bleeding, unresponsive and lethargic.
He ranked the injury as “extreme” and said Kelly told the DSPCA that Lucky had the growth for “the last few months”. The court heard Kelly insisted she had been unable to get an appointment with a vet over the bank holiday weekend.
The animal welfare charity’s veterinary surgeon, Elise O’Byrne White, said analysis of the tumour tissue indicated it was “slow growing”. She estimated it had developed for at least six months and ruptured due to its size. She said such an enlarged tumour would have been avoided if Lucky had been castrated.
Lucky recovered and was later rehomed.
Kelly, who had no previous convictions, claimed the injury was caused by the tumour enlarging quickly and getting “nicked” when Lucky was in the garden and “he kept at it and at it”.
She told the judge she did not have a car and a taxi would not take them because the dog was bleeding.
Judge Halpin agreed with the prosecution that there had to be a severe penalty but said the sentence had to be discounted due to Kelly’s guilty plea.
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