Tyson has been neglected his whole life. Sadly, he became emaciated with no responsible human to provide him with basic care. Discovered in extremely poor body condition and living amongst faeces, he was rescued by the RSPCA.
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His careless owner has been banned from keeping all animals for five years following a prosecution brought by the animal welfare charity.
Locked in a filthy room
The RSPCA was alerted about Tyson, an adult crossbreed dog after someone saw him looking out of an upstairs window. Upon paying a visit to the property and finding no one in, an inspector placed some sticky tape on the door.
The following day, the tapes were still intact - suggesting nobody had entered the door since. Again, Tyson could be seen in the same window and appeared to be in extremely poor condition. He seemed to be unable to make his way downstairs to the front door.
RSPCA inspector Terri-Ann Fannon requested police assistance to access the property.
She was heartbroken to find Tyson locked in an upstairs room that was covered in faeces and urine. He had a small amount of food but no water.
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‘Underweight with every bone visible’
With the help from the police, the RSPCArescued Tyson and rushed him to the vet.
The poor pooch was found to weigh only 20.6kg and confirmed to be emaciated. There was no medical reason for his loss of weight, other than lack of food.
Tyson drank 1.2 litres of water in about three minutes and ate food given to him in seconds.
In her witness statement, inspector Fannon said:
Tyson was extremely underweight with every bone visible, his head was cone-shaped and sunken in, and his hips and spine were all protruding - he had no muscle tone or fat at all. Once at the vet, he drank insatiably and constantly wanted more.
The poor dog had never been let out
Tyson’s owner admitted that the pup had gone from bulky to looking ‘like a whippet’. According to him, he couldn’t afford vet treatments.
He also said that he had never let Tyson out - which was clear by the state of his claws. They were overgrown from lack of wear from exercise.
When asked about the room Tyson was confined in, he admitted that he had last cleared up about six weeks earlier.
The cruel owner was banned from owning a pet for five years and sentenced to eight months imprisonment.
Head to RSPCA's websiteto learn more about the charity and support their vital animal welfare and rescue work.
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