A couple who let their dog starve while they ‘swanned off’ on holiday have been spared jail.
Sophie Singer, 41, and Keith Byrne, 38, went to Center Parcs in January 2022, leaving their dog Bentley behind.
A neighbour who had suspected that the boxer was suffering before the couple abandoned him for the Center Parcs trip raised the alarm.
The couple, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, have now been given suspended prison sentences after a judge heard they had seven children.
An RSPCA inspector said Bentley, 14, was barely alive and struggling to breathe. He was covered in scabs and weighed 12.5kg – less than half the weight he should have been.
Food wrappers and a felt pen were found in his stomach, prosecutor James Bull told Lewes Crown Court, suggesting the dog had resorted to hunting among rubbish for scraps of food.
Inspector Tony Woodley said: ‘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 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.’
Despite an untouched bowl of water and dog snacks found nearby, there was no food in Bentley’s stomach.
Bull said ‘large amounts of rubbish’ were found in Bentley’s stomach, which he suspected the starved dog ate ‘out of excess hunger’.
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 did their best to save him, but Bentley died overnight on February 1 after months of neglect.
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.
‘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.
They were both banned from keeping animals for five years, ordered to pay costs and given community service.
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