Man is Banned From Dog Ownership For Overfeeding Pet
A man from Macclesfield has been banned from keeping dogs for ten years after allowing his dalmatian dog to become chronically overweight.
John Green, D.O.B 05/09/59, of Chelford Road, Macclesfield was yesterday (Wednesday 18 November) handed the ban by Macclesfield magistrates. He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £780 costs. A further £864 were awarded to the vets that treated Barney, to be paid out of central funds.
The court heard how RSPCA inspectors were first alerted to the plight of Barney, Green’s eight-year-old male dalmatian dog, in June 2007 following concerned calls from members of the public. RSPCA inspectors warned Mr Green about the dangers of his dog being so overweight and he duly took Barney to the vets where he was put on a diet.
Barney initially lost some weight and RSPCA inspectors carried out follow-up visits to ensure their advice was being followed. However, over the following months, Mr Green failed to maintain Barney’s weight loss and his condition worsened until he became dangerously overweight.
On Wednesday 10 June 2009 RSPCA inspectors removed Barney from a property on Queen’s Avenue in Macclesfield and took him to a nearby vets.
On examination, Barney was found to weigh around 70kg (30-35kg more than a typical, healthy dog of his breed) and rated as five out of five on an obesity scale. He was placed on a special diet and moved to a private boarding kennels where staff ensured he received regular exercise and a carefully controlled diet, until he reached a healthy weight of just under 40kg. He was transferred to RSPCA Warrington, Halton & St Helens Branch Animal Centre in October where he is currently being cared for.
At an earlier hearing, Mr Green pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to Barney by failing to address the cause of his chronic obesity. He also admitted failing to meet Barney’s needs by not providing him with a suitable diet and exercise and by not allowing him to express normal behaviour due to his condition. Magistrates heard that Mr Green would often feed Barney the same snacks as himself, including packets of crisps and chocolates.
Yesterday, the court was told in mitigation that Mr Green treated Barney as more of a friend than a dog, and that he did not set out to deliberately harm Barney but rather failed to realise the seriousness of his condition.
After the hearing, RSPCA inspector Rachel Andrews said: “When we removed Barney he was dangerously obese – his condition would have caused him huge discomfort, put pressure on his joints and could potentially have shortened his life.
“Prosecution was very much a last resort in this case. We gave Mr Green strong advice to take Barney to the vets and have him put on a diet to ensure he maintained a healthy weight, but Barney’s condition ultimately deteriorated. In the end we were faced with no choice but to remove Barney, for his own health and well-being.
“Thankfully Barney has since been put on a careful diet to help him lose the extra weight and is now a healthy, bright and active dog. This just goes to show how important it is to regulate what your pet eats and what can happen when you over-indulge them with treats or tit-bits.
“Overfeeding an animal can be just as cruel as underfeeding it and the reality is that fat pets have shorter lives, take longer to recover from disease and have a reduced ability to withstand surgery.
“Hopefully this case will show pet owners just how vital it is to provide their animals with a carefully-controlled diet and regular exercise. With Christmas just round the corner it might be tempting to overfeed them, but it’s important to remember that those extra pounds can have a huge impact on their comfort, health and well-being.”
Barney is currently in the care of RSPCA Warrington, Halton & St Helens Branch Animal Centre where he is looking for a happy new home. If you think you might be able to offer Barney, or any of many other animals at the Centre, a new home please telephone 01925 632 944 or visit www.rspca-warrington.org.uk
From K9 Magazine:
K9 Magazine wholeheartedly supports this type of prosecution.
For far too long, people have ignored the health dangers of chronic obesity in pets.
Killing with kindness is STILL killing.
In the past few years drugs companies, TV shows and book publishers have all made moves into a rapidly emerging area of the British dog ownership market. All are keen to tap into a growing trend which has been expanding every year for the past decade. And expanding really is the best placed adjective to describe what’s happening. Britain’s dogs are getting fat, they’re dying and the cause is, quite simply, their owners.
Picture in your mind, if you can stomach the thought, an image of an abused dog.
What do you see?
A timid, cowering bundle of bones, wide eyed and frightened of its own shadow?
Understandable. It’s the stereotypical image of an abused pet. We’d probably be able to reach a similar consensus when conjuring up a mental picture of a ‘typical’ animal abuser.
It’s a fair bet that not many people, when asked to imagine an abused dog and the perpetrator behind the cruelty would visualise a fat Labrador and a little old lady, responsible for the dog’s condition.
fat-dog
Tragically though, the obese Labrador is probably going to suffer just as many, if not more health problems than the skinny, under fed dog and it’s just as likely that his misguided owner is sending the poor animal to an early grave.
Let’s be clear. There is no such thing as killing with kindness when it comes to the animals we chose to share our lives with, killing is killing. Abuse is abuse and animal cruelty comes in many forms regardless of its intent.
Britain is suffering from a growing number of obese pets. As our domesticated animals share the lives and lifestyles of their owners, as society gets fatter so do our pets.
As a society it’s time to give a name to the fat dog epidemic sweeping the country in order that the people responsible are completely aware of what they are doing. It’s animal cruelty. Plain and simple. Abuse by any other name is still abuse and whilst over-feeding our pets to the point of obesity may be a very modern form of animal cruelty, it is cruelty nevertheless and must be described as such.
Dogs rely 100% on their owners for the diet they eat and lifestyles they lead. Unlike children of a certain age, dogs – with the odd exception – can not open cupboards, can not be duplicitous and conniving spending their dinner money on junk food instead of the healthy option they swore they were eating at school. Dogs are unable to read labels and they surely can not be expected to self regulate their calorie intake when their very instinct is that of the scavenger, eating as if unsure where their next meal will be coming from. It is this very instinct in fact which leads many owners to constantly give into the longing eyes, the charge to the biscuit tin and the general pressure our clever pets are able to exert over us with that ‘never been fed before’ facial expression that have mastered so well. Are they hungry? No, very unlikely. They are simply doing what dogs do, using their canine skills to convince their sole providers of their desire to eat.
Fat people, by and large, get fat by eating more than they need to and simply not burning off the calories they take in with an appropriate level of exercise. Dogs are no different except, maybe in one area. Most dogs WANT to burn the calories off but often they are not given the opportunity to do so.
A fat dog is a less healthy, less happy dog. A seriously fat dog will undoubtedly die as a result of their weight. Owners need to take responsibility for the health of their pets, regardless of how they lead their own lives.
Gone are the days when we should laugh or attempt to find some twisted humour when looking at newspaper images of the ‘super’ fat pets we often see. Would we laugh if the images we were seeing were that of a seriously underweight dog, suffering from malnourishment? Doubtful, yet the obese dog is likely to die a slower, more painful death. That’s the harsh reality and that’s why we can no longer see past this issue as anything other than neglect of responsibility on behalf of pet owners.
Understanding a dog’s basic nutritional requirements does not take a great deal of research or time. Failure to comprehend what a dog needs in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle is, plainly, unforgivable living in the information age as we do.
Britain is in need of a culture change. Fat pets should not be a source of amusement. Unless someone helps them, they will die. They will suffer and die. Their neglectful owners will have killed them. That is not a form of kindness no matter how you look at it.
How to Help Your Dog Lose Weight in 5 Very Simple Steps
Speak with your vet and get an understanding of what your dog’s ideal body weight should be.
Get a solid understanding of what nutrients and daily calories your dog needs to reach and maintain his/her ideal weight.
If you are going to feed snacks in between meals, reduce their main meal(s) accordingly. Don’t feed snacks AS WELL as their normal meals.
Give your dog the chance to exercise properly. That means running, allowing their heart rate to increase. Do this gradually.
If you must feed your dog whilst you snack, do not give them tidbits of the snacks you eat. Your dog will be happy to eat a small handful of their normal food and will not then suffer by consuming the calories of the sugary or starchy food you might snack on. Remember, dogs are scavengers by nature and will do what it takes to make you feed them, they are NOT actually hungry.
Finally, if you are still not motivated enough to make the changes necessary to help your dog become fit and healthy, picture yourself in the vet’s waiting room as you sit with your beloved best friend sharing the last few moment of their life before the vet is called upon to end their suffering. How will you feel knowing that it is YOU who has denied your precious companion many months and possibly years of their life? You won’t sleep and it will haunt you forever. Making a change is easier than living with the grief and guilt of denying your dog the life they deserve.
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More fatty the dog, the more time it takes to reach from one place to another.
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