10-year animal ban for south Wales man after neglect of pregnant dog

Nation.Cymru Staff

A south Wales man has been disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years and handed a suspended prison sentence after he failed to meet the needs of his pregnant dog who was in an emaciated and poor condition.

Matthew Mark Andrews (d.o.b 09/05/1995), of Henry Street, Neath, pleaded guilty to one offence under the Animal Welfare Act.

He had failed to adequately investigate and address the weight loss and poor body condition of his dog, Pandora, who was extremely underweight with her spine and ribs clearly visible.

He was sentenced at Swansea Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 2 July and was given 12 weeks custody which was suspended for 12 months and was ordered to carry out 20 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.

Andrews was also disqualified from keeping all animals for 10 years, and ordered to pay £400 costs.

A witness statement, provided to the court by a vet involved in this case, said that it was on 21 November last year when the PDSA had a call from Andrews with concerns that Pandora hadn’t eaten for four or five days and had lost weight. He was advised to bring her in straight away to be seen.

The vet said: “I was presented with a female, tan coloured Shar Pei type dog called Pandora of about five years old.

“Pandora was extremely underweight with her spine, ribs and hips easily visible. She had a body score of one out of five where one is emaciated, five is obese and three is normal.

“Pandora weighed 18.4kg and in August 2023 our records show she weighed 25kg and there was no concern for her weight at this time.

“Pandora had no fat reserves left, and the emaciation was so chronic that there was severe muscle mass atrophy, indicating the chronicity and long-term suffering over short-term.

“The emaciation was so severe that it was impossible to tell that the dog was close to full-term pregnancy. Pandora’s skin was also in horrific condition; with evidence of a chronic yeast infection and a strong, foul smell.”

Pandora was scanned as the vet suspected she had pyometra (infection of the womb) and on the scan we could see she had seven to nine puppies inside.

The vet added: “A section of her small intestines were also twisted. She had emergency surgery to remove the twisted intestine.

“Post-operatively at the out of hours care provider, she developed another intussusception and because of her chronic condition, she would have been very unlikely to survive another major surgery, so euthanasia was elected for her instead.”

Sadly this also resulted in the death of the puppies.

It was of the vet’s professional opinion that Pandora was suffering, and that prompt veterinary treatment should have been sought for her chronic skin condition and poor body condition.

In mitigation it was heard that Andrews was remorseful and should have acted sooner.

Following sentencing, Deputy Chief Inspector Gemma Cooper said: “This is a very sad case with a tragic ending for Pandora and her puppies.

“We’d like to thank the veterinary practice for their assistance here in what must have been an upsetting incident to deal with.

“All animals deserve to be treated with kindness and should have their needs met. Anyone who is struggling should seek help.”

---

Get more trusted Welsh news

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.