A MAN who kept two sick dogs in a small shed has received a three-month suspended prison sentence and been banned from keeping animals for five years.
At Portlaoise District Court on Friday, Judge Catherine Staines told the 30-year-old man that he was "an unfit person to look after animals".
He was ordered to pay €284.82 in costs having admitted two offences under section 11 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 (AHWA) for failing to safeguard the health and welfare of two Siberian husky dogs.
(Image: ISPCA)The offences dated back to Friday, July 20, 2018, when ISPCA Inspector Alice Lacey called to the defendant's property in Portlaoise, in response to a report made to the charity's National Animal Cruelty Helpline by a member of the public.
Inspector Lacey told the court she discovered the extremely underweight dogs in a small dark shed that smelt 'putrid', mostly from the dogs' severely infected skin.
Multiple sores and cuts
One of the dogs, named Beauty, weighed just 17 kilograms, was suffering from severe alopecia and had multiple sores and open cuts on her frail body.
The other dog, named Casper, was suffering from pyoderma of the skin requiring his back to be shaved in order for him to be properly treated.
"The dogs' owner admitted that he had not sought veterinary treatment for his pets and as a result, they were in severe discomfort," said Inspector Lacey.
(Image: ISPCA)"It really saddens me to think how much these dogs would have suffered. They would have been in extreme pain, a situation that could have been totally prevented, had the owner sought basic veterinary treatment."
Both dogs were surrendered into the care of the ISPCA and transported to a nearby veterinary practice for urgent veterinary assessment.
They have both since made full recoveries.
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(Image: ISPCA)