Heartbreak over a starving dog left behind to eat plastic and ‘crawl with maggots’

Tia became a victim of unimaginable cruelty after her callous owner left her behind in an empty flat with no food and water. The man lied to the RSPCA after he promised to take the starving animal to the vet.

‘It was difficult not to gag’

The RSPCA had paid a visit to a flat on Stanley Road in Kirkdale, England in early 2022 after inspector Louise Showering found that Tia, the brown and white Staffordshire bull terrier, was underweight. The pet’s owner claimed the pooch had ‘gone off her food’, so it was agreed that he and his partner would take his 13-year-old dog for a vet check to see if there was an underlying illness.

The follow-up visits by the animal charity ‘drew a blank’, with its officers unable to contact the pup’s owner on the phone or at the property.

Katie Glenn eventually managed to get hold of the man late in March and he claimed that someone should have been attending to the dog before she was taken to the vet. He also said Tia was put to sleep in the surgery, although he was vague about the location of the practice.

But when RSPCA inspector Lisa Lupson attended the same property while conducting the investigation, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Tia’s dead body was lying on a sofa in the lounge, with empty water and feeding bowls and empty boxes of dog food found in the kitchen.

Lupson said:

Tia’s bones were protruding from her body and maggots were swarming her face. The smell was overpowering and it was difficult not to gag - there were faeces coming from her bottom and her nails were very overgrown.

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This pooch suffered ‘for a prolonged period’

A post-mortem examination showed that Tia was not suffering from any disease and that her cause of death was likely to be starvation, while there were also a number of plastic pieces of food packaging in her stomach.

An expert vet’s report concluded:

Tia suffered as a consequence of not being provided with a suitable diet, that is suitable food and water, for a prolonged period.

Her owner was jailed for 16 weeks at Liverpool Magistrates' Court, having pleaded guilty to failing to provide for Tia’s needs and causing unnecessary suffering by not addressing the cause of her weight loss. He was also fined and banned from keeping animals for life.

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⋙ Heartbreak as a dog was discarded in a pillowcase together with 'soiled nappies'

⋙ This heartbroken dog who suffered ‘domestic abuse’ still can't find a place to call home

Sources used:

- Liverpool Echo: 'Flat where dog was found starved to death 'swarming' with maggots'