Man jailed for starving dog to death and dumping body in suitcase at cemetery

A man has been jailed for starving his dog to death, stuffing its emaciated body in a suitcase and dumping it in a cemetery.

Mason Medford was picked up by police today after going on the run last week when he was due to appear in court.

In his absence, he was found guilty of two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a Staffordshire bull terrier called Leo.

When police found Medford today, they took him straight to Leeds Magistrates’ Court, where he was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison and disqualified from keeping animals for life.

The court heard Leo had been purchased for £100 by a couple Medford was friends with.

But Leo didn’t get on with their other dog, so they asked Medford if he would take Leo after the original seller refused to take him back.

Medford took Leo to his home in Leeds on November 26, with a 25kg sack of dog food a friend had given him.

He later told police, after handing himself in, that Leo growled at him and acted aggressively so he left him in the house.

The RSPCA discovered Leo in a suitcase under some shrubs at Harehills Cemetery in Leeds on January 24.

A vet found Leo had suffered for at least four weeks before eventually suffering multiple organ failure.

RSPCA inspector Sarah Mason said: ‘This was a really shocking incident to deal with and I’m glad that the court viewed it so seriously.

‘Leo’s emaciated body had been crammed into a black suitcase, wrapped in a towel.

‘When vets weighed him he was just 11.6kg, he was literally a skeleton of a dog.

‘The collar he had around his neck, which presumably fit at some time, was just hanging off him.

‘The suffering Leo endured before he died must have been enormous.’

Inspector Mason added: ‘He literally abandoned this dog to die.

‘He shut him in a room with no food or water and didn’t come back until he was dead.

‘Veterinary evidence found that he had suffered for a minimum of four weeks, eventually suffering multiple organ failure.

‘The house was disgusting, there was faeces and urine everywhere, and splatters of blood. What Leo went through during that time doesn’t bear thinking about.’