Suspended prison sentence for dog owner found with caged skeletal lurcher suffering pressure sores

A Warrington woman whose emaciated dog was found locked in a cage has been banned from keeping animals for five years and handed a suspended prison sentence.

Ashley Wilks was prosecuted by the RSPCA after a lurcher called Reggie, who sadly had to be put down, was found at the defendant’s home in a very poor body condition.

Wilks, aged 34, of Ottowa Gardens, Warrington, admitted one offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 of failing to meet the needs of the dog and appeared for sentencing at North Cheshire Magistrates’ Court on July 29. As well as the disqualification, the defendant was sentenced to eight weeks in prison, which the magistrates suspended for 18 months.
The court heard how Reggie was locked inside a wire cage without food and water when RSPCA Inspector Nadine Pengilly attended the defendant’s home on October 30 last year.
There were two metal bowls outside the dog’s cage; one was empty and the other had water in it.
In a statement presented to the court, the inspector said: “Reggie was in poor body condition and I could see his hips, spine and ribs. He had several open wounds which looked like pressure sores on his hind quarters and his skull appeared to be sunken. He was just curled up in the cage.”
The defendant told the inspector that she hadn’t taken Reggie to a vets for years because he was aggressive and she had not administered any flea or worm treatment for a long time. She said Reggie was caged because of his temperament as he had bitten several people.
Reggie was signed over into the care of the RSPCA by his owner. But sadly his health was so poor that a vet later decided the kindest course of action was to put him to sleep.

One of the dog’s pressure sores

The vet who examined the canine scored Reggie one out of nine on a body condition score (where five is an ideal weight and one is an emaciated state). She said the dog was also suffering from pressure sores and a large ulcerated mass on his chest.
She said that suffering would have been for at least three weeks, but that Reggie’s condition had probably been deteriorating for several months.
The court heard that mitigation for Wilks was that she tried to rehome the dog without success and she also had financial problems.
The defendant will have to pay court costs of £400 and a victim surcharge of £154.
Speaking after the sentencing, Inspector Pengilly said: “This poor dog suffered terribly when it would have been clear to the defendant that he needed to be taken to a vets.”