Suspended jail term and ban for West Brom man

A dog owner from West Bromwich who left his Rottweiler dog to suffer with a number of injuries, including a large chest wound, has been prosecuted by the RSPCA.

Quadeer Ahmed pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and appeared at North Staffordshire Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced on September 24.

As well as receiving a 16-week prison sentence, which was suspended for 12 months, the defendant was banned from owning animals for 10 years.
 
The court heard how the dog, called Roxy, was taken by her owner to a vets in Stafford on January 7 this year suffering with a number of bite wounds, including a deep gash to the chest which measured 6cm by 4cm. The large wound had become necrotic and infected and Roxy’s prognosis was so poor that a vet decided the kindest course of action was to put her to sleep.
 
RSPCA officers investigated the time frame surrounding the injuries the dog had suffered before she was presented at a veterinary practice 25 miles away from the defendant’s home address.
 
The court heard that Ahmed initially took the pet to a dog groomer in Birmingham who told him to take the dog to see a vet immediately. A post-mortem report confirmed Roxy had most probably suffered bite wounds inflicted at different times by other dogs.
 
A vet who examined Roxy for the post-mortem said as well as the chest wound she had suffered several smaller injuries to her legs and ears and all the injuries would have been sustained at different times as they were at different stages of healing.
 
The vet estimated that the chest wound was likely to have been inflicted six to 18 days before the dog was seen at the vets in Stafford.
 
“The suffering experienced would have been reasonably foreseeable and avoidable with timely veterinary intervention,” concluded the vet.
 
The defendant claimed that a “dog had got on his dog” two to three days before he visited the vets.
 
Ahmed was also ordered to pay £350 court costs and a victim surcharge of £154.
 
Speaking after the sentencing, RSPCA Deputy Chief Inspector Tom Hall said: “The defendant should have and could have gone to a vets much nearer his home at the time these injuries were inflicted - the wound to the chest would have been very obvious.
 
“He didn’t and in fact took the dog first to a groomer who immediately pointed out he should be at a vets. Roxy suffered as a result and later, sadly, had to be put to sleep.”