Woman left dog to starve to death in house so filthy officer struggled to speak

A woman received an 18-month suspended sentence after she abandoned two dogs in a house - one of whom was found dead in a cage without food or water.

Leah O'Connor was also handed a lifetime ban on keeping animals after she left behind bulldog Doris and Rottweiler puppy Rox when she moved out of the property in Melrose Street, Halifax, in February 2023. An RSPCA officer said it was difficult to speak when entering the house due to the poor conditions and immense smell of ammonia.

Doris was later found to have eaten plastic in order to survive while Rox's body position suggested she was trying to get out for a while before her death. O'Connor was prosecuted by the RSPCA after the animals were discovered by the property's landlord on February 21.

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The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to two offences contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006. A sentencing at Bradford Magistrates Court last Thursday, April 11, heard how 'prolonged neglect' and abandonment of the dogs could only be regarded as 'a deliberate act, perhaps short of sadistic behaviour'.

O'Connor 'spun a web of lies' for her neighbours and family by making them think the two dogs had been rehomed to someone on a farm, the court heard. She wouldn't allow anyone to enter the property before leaving them to die.

RSPCA Inspector Demi Hodby, who investigated the case took a video inside the house. In it, she struggled to describe the conditions due to the overwhelming smell.

Stairs inside the three-storey property were covered in faeces alongside mouldy food all over the kitchen worktops. In written evidence to the court, the inspector said: “The property