AN emaciated German Shepard died after her cruel owners allowed her to lose half her body weight.
Cassie was no more than skin and bones and weighed just over one stone when she was finally taken to the vets by the RSPCA.
Christopher Bloy, 26 and partner Heather Wray, 25 who admitted to causing unnecessary suffering to their frail pup have been banned from keeping animals for 10 years.
The average weight for Cassie's breed is between four stone ten pounds and five stone seven pounds.
The couple from Grimsby failed to take Cassie to the vets when she began to drop weight between September 10 and November 10 last year.
Sadly, Cassie who weighed one stone and 12 pounds had to be put down when she was taken to the Blue Cross by horrified RSPCA workers.
Strangely, the pair had another dog who was of normal weight and not neglected but after Cassie's heartbreaking treatment that dog will also be removed and rehomed.
Rachel Taylor, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told Grimsby Magistrates' Court said: "This is a case of real neglect, not a deliberate attempt not to feed a dog. It’s negligence.
BANNED FROM KEEPING ANIMALS
"It’s ill-treatment in that there hasn’t been any veterinary care for a dog that’s clearly emaciated."
"Cassie was not receiving food," said Miss Taylor.
"Either the other dog was eating it or there was no food put down.
"The charge is failing to address the loss of weight rather than a deliberate act of cruelty.
"I can’t say that this is a deliberate case of failing to feed. Certainly, the dog was not sufficiently fed."
The prosecution did not accept that the dog had an underlying condition because the couple seemed to have been advised by a vet in 2016 that follow-up appointments would be needed. Its weight then was only two stone 11 pounds.
These appointments were never kept, however, and attempts by the veterinary surgery to make contact were unsuccessful.
A post-mortem suggested that there was no underlying reason for the weight loss.
This is a case of real neglect, not a deliberate attempt not to feed a dog. It’s negligence.
Ms Taylor, prosecutingMs Taylor refused to accept that the dog had an underlying condition because the couple were told by a vet in 2016 that follow-up appointments would be needed after she only weighed two stone and 11 pounds.
These appointments never happened.
Craig Davy, mitigating, said the other dog was perfectly healthy but was treated in a similar way to Cassie and claimed that the other pup may have been eating Cassie's food.
He added: "They noticed the weight of Cassie declining in a period of a few weeks,' said Mr Davy.
"They should have done more over that period of time.
"Both were distressed by the fact that Cassie had to be put down."
The court heard that Bloy claimed because he worked away 60 to 70 hours a week, he did not notice the dog had lost weight. It used to play around in the garden and the first time he realised there was a problem was when the dog collapsed.
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Wray had owned the dog since it was a puppy but two years ago, its behaviour changed and it started jumping at shadows and running around obsessively.
District judge Daniel Curtis told the couple: "Unfortunately, through your neglect, this dog had to be euthanised on the day that it appeared in front of a veterinary surgeon, who took the view, having examined it, that it was extremely malnourished and had been neglected.
"During that period, you did not do enough to save that dog. You should have looked after it. It’s an obligation that you have.
'The dog was emaciated in 2016. It was even worse when you presented it at the vet’s in 2018."
Bloy was given 80 hours unpaid work and Wray was given five days rehabilitation. Both were ordered to pay £500 costs and an £85 victims’ surcharge.
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