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A couple who left their starving dog to die while they ‘swanned off’ for a holiday at Center Parcs have avoided jail.
Sophie Singer, 41, and her ex-partner Keith Byrne, 38, refused to accept their boxer dog was suffering before they abandoned him at home in January 2022, a judge found.
One of their neighbours took the opportunity of their absence to raise the alarm after entering the home through a broken front door to find their boxer Bentley at the foot of the stairs the day after they left.
His breathing was ‘rapid and shallow’, and the neighbour thought he was dying.
Bentley was ‘barely alive’ when an RSPCA inspector entered their home through an unlocked door the next day.
The 14-year-old dog was covered in scabs and weighed just 12.5kg – less than half the weight of an average boxer.
He may have been so hungry, he turned to eating food wrappers and a felt pen found in his stomach, prosecutor James Bull told the Lewes Crown Court.
Bentley was in such a poor state, with claws so overgrown they’d become talons, police told the RSPCA inspector to remove Bentley despite not legally being allowed to.
The RSPCA inspector wasn’t even sure Bentley was alive when they found him (Picture: Eddie Mitchell/Sussex News and Pictures)
Inspector Tony Woodley told the court: ‘It was very dramatic.
‘I’m not allowed to take the dog by law but when I spoke to the police sergeant after making the 999 call, he told me to remove the dog right away.’
Judge Christine Laing KC, who said she has never owned a dog, said: ‘I find this case really extraordinary.
‘Even as a non dog owner, I would have seen instantly that this dog was in a terrible state.’
She added: ‘He would not have been able to move without being in agony.
‘The ribs showing through his skin you could not have failed to miss.
‘He had scabs and inflammation on his skin you could not have failed to miss.’
Bentley died after months of neglect, despite the RSCPA’s efforts to save him (Picture: Eddie Mitchell/Sussex News and Pictures)
Despite an untouched bowl of water and dog snacks found nearby, there was no food in Bentley’s stomach.
Instead he had turned to the ‘large amounts of rubbish’ found in his stomach, which ‘it is suspected he ate those out of excess hunger’, Bull said.
He had prominent ribs, hips and spine. His eyes were sunken and his claws were curling over.
He was clearly a victim of chronic neglect, an RSPCA vet said.
The RSPCA its their best to save him, but Bentley died overnight on February 1 after months of neglect.
But Singer and Byrne, of Beauchamp Court, Wilmington Gardens in Eastbourne, Sussex, avoided prison sentences because they’re the parents of seven children.
The judge didn’t believe a word of the couple’s claim to have left a family friend to look after Bentley in their absence (Picture: Eddie Mitchell/Sussex News and Pictures)
When contacted by the RSPCA through information found on Bentley’s chip, long distance lorry driver Byrne told them Bentley had not seen a vet for a year.
Singer said they put his condition down to old age and tiredness, claiming she believed he wouldn’t have come home if they had taken him to a vet.
The pair tried convincing the court they had left Bentley – their pet of seven years – in the care of a family friend, but the judge rejected this claim.
Judge Laing said: ‘You insist on continuing to persist with this bizarre story.
‘The dog had clearly been suffering for a very substantial period of time and you decided to swan off on holiday.
‘I’m not even convinced you had somebody to look after it or that this person even existed.
‘The animal was clearly starving. There was no food in its stomach.
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‘It really is appalling behaviour. I am at a loss.
‘Both of you talk about it as if it was a beloved family pet.
‘What an example you are showing to your children about what love is.’
Singer and Byrne were convicted in their absence of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and failing to ensure his welfare.
Criticising their avoidance of court, the judge said: ‘There is no mitigation to be found.
‘I’m quite satisfied you have gone to considerable efforts to avoid the whole court process.’
Judge Laing handed Singer a six month prison term, suspended for two years, yesterday.
She gave Byrne nine months, suspended for two years.
Both have been banned from keeping animals for five years, and they must pay £350 costs each.
Singer must also complete 200 hours of unpaid work, while Byrne must do 300 hours.
The judge told them they would likely have had to serve time behind bars if they were not the parents of seven children.
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