Blyth dog owners given suspended sentence and animal ban after German shepherds found underweight, unwell, and with fleas

Margaret Stanners, 48, and Kieron Cruise, 37, were both banned for keeping animals for five years and given eight-week prison sentences suspended for 18 months.

The couple, of Benridge Park in Blyth, each pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal after the RSPCA found their two dogs Buddy and Bella in a suffering state.

They appeared at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on August 15, where they were also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154 and £250 court costs.

RSPCA inspector Rachael Hurst told the court Stanners had said the male and female German shepherds were getting better when she visited the property in February, but the inspector felt they looked “incredibly thin.”

She told the court: “I could see their spine, hip bones and ribs, while across their backs they had hardly any fur. Their skin was flaky and there was a malodorous smell.”

Stanners allowed the inspector permission to take 10-year-old Buddy and Bella, aged eight, to a vet, where both scored one out of nine in a body condition test.

Buddy weighed just 21.4kg and had a flea infestation, an eye infection, and mild anaemia. Bella, weighed 18.3kg and was suffering from hair loss on her back and skin abrasions where she had been scratching at fleas.

The vet’s report concluded both dogs had lost weight because of inflammatory bowel disease, but their weight would not have plummeted so low had they been fed an adequate diet.

After being cared for by the RSPCA for two months, Buddy had put on 7.7kg of weight and Bella 7kg.

Speaking after the sentencing, inspector Hurst said: “The defendants claimed they were feeding their dogs and did not know why they were losing weight.

“But when I found them both dogs were very thin and really feeble, while they had fleas running all over them.

“They have both put on weight and are making progress in our care at Felledge Animal Centre, although they are not quite yet ready to be rehomed.”