Bolton: Woman receives suspended sentence after dog starved to death

A woman has been sentenced after her elderly emaciated dog starved to death at a house in Bolton and was so hungry he had eaten a plastic bag and a piece of acrylic nail.

Bull breed Reuben, who also had five fractured ribs and multiple missing teeth, was found wrapped in a duvet cover in a storage box by RSPCA officers at the property in Glaister Lane, Breightmet, in March last year.

His owner Bethany Butterworth, 27, had moved out of the property but said she had been returning daily to feed him. 

Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court heard RSPCA inspector Beth Fazackerley and animal rescue officer Ross Allan visited the property on March 17 last year after the charity had received information about the welfare of a dog. 

In written evidence, inspector Fazackerley said: “We received no reply at the front door so we walked around the side and back of the house to see if we could see anybody or any animals.

"In the garden I saw a seemingly unused dog crate and dog bowl and an empty fish tank. 

“There was a black storage box and inside we found a deceased, white and brown bull breed type dog wrapped inside a duvet cover.

“I rang the police for assistance and made further local enquiries and was informed that the tenant used to have three dogs of varying descriptions.

"One of those descriptions matched the deceased dog we had observed in the storage box and was called Reuben.”

The inspector was given a mobile number for Butterworth who initially told her that if there was a dead dog in her garden she did not know about it and that someone must have put it there.

Photographs of Reuben’s body showed his prominent backbone, pelvis, and ribs.

The abdominal area behind them was sunken and severe muscle wastage could be seen over the spine of the dog’s shoulder blade.

Dark brown soiling of the fur around his mouth, chin, feet, and hind legs was also visible. 

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Other images showed him inside the property lying on the floor surrounded by piles of faeces.

A postmortem report found Reuben had an untreated skin lesion, five fractured ribs, three of which were in a later stage of healing, and multiple missing teeth - with those that remained showing severe wear and tear and root exposure.

A plastic bag and a piece of acrylic nail were also found in his stomach.

It said there were no underlying medical reasons to explain his emaciated state which would have taken "weeks or months to develop". 

A vet who gave written evidence in the case and saw the post mortem report, said: “The presence of this material in the stomach and oesophagus suggests that as recently as a few hours before death that this dog was able to physically eat.

"The presence of non-food items with no nutritional value is found more frequently in dogs suffering from starvation than those with severe weight loss from medical causes.

“Rib fractures in dogs are usually the result of major blunt force trauma to the chest wall.

"Breaking of ribs requires significant force, for example a road traffic accident or other major trauma such as a kick from a horse, a high rise fall, or non-accidental injury or deliberate physical assault.

“Given that Reuben’s injuries were not examined at the time of the injury a lot of these associated injuries may have healed and not have been evident at the time of post mortem making differentiation of cause difficult.”

The vet said the nine-year-old dog was suffering from malnutrition to the point of emaciation, which was likely to have developed over several weeks to months.

She said pain from the untreated rib fractures was likely to have been present for a minimum of two weeks - and potentially several weeks - and his severe dental disease for a minimum of around 12 months.

She said any reasonable dog owner would avoid leaving their pet alone for more than a few hours every day, even less if their animal was obviously ill or injured and would seek veterinary advice when they noticed a reduction in appetite, weight loss or difficulties with mobility.

When interviewed by the RSPCA inspector, Butterworth admitted that she was responsible for Reuben but claimed she was returning daily to feed him.

She said he had gone through stages of not eating in the past and that his weight used to fluctuate because of this.

He had lost muscle and "wouldn’t walk much because of his age", but that in the weeks and days leading up to his death she had no concerns.

She said she had returned to the house in February to find him dead and then put his body in the storage box in the back garden.

In defence, the court was told that Butterworth had mental health issues.

At a sentencing hearing at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, February 20, Butterworth was handed a 12-week custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months, and banned from keeping animals for five years following a prosecution by the RSPCA.

She was also ordered to carry out 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Butterworth had admitted causing unnecessary suffering by failing to meet Reuben’s needs at an earlier hearing on December 14, after being arrested on a warrant.

Speaking after the case Inspector Fazackerley said: “This was an extremely upsetting investigation and one that will stay with me and my colleague for a long time.

“Reuben was an elderly dog with deteriorating health who should have received the appropriate care and veterinary support in his twilight years.

“Instead, he was left to waste away, to the point of starvation, over a considerable period of time, and then disposed of in the garden and forgotten about.”      

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on X @chloewjourno.