A DOG has been given a new chance at life after its former owner was convicted of animal cruelty.
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The Husky, re-named Feathers, has more than doubled its weight since being found “emaciated” last year.
Michele Ruth Eddy, 29, of Gundary St, Goulburn pleaded guilty to three charges levelled by the RSPCA in Goulburn Local Court on Wednesday.
She was charged with failing to provide sufficient food and drink and veterinary treatment to the male Husky between March and April last year.
RSPCA officer Jean Sprague told the court she went to Eddy’s home on April 2, 2013 investigating a complaint about a “starving dog.”
No one was home when she arrived but she rattled the gate and the dog emerged, “clearly staggering.”
“…After a few steps it collapsed,” court documents stated.
“It made a gallant attempt to get up but immediately collapsed again.”
The dog’s skeletal frame was evident, despite its long fur, Mrs Sprague told the court.
She could not find any food or water in the backyard, which she noted was “unkempt and strewn with garbage.”
A local veterinary check revealed the dog was emaciated, dehydrated and weighed 9.4kg, half its normal weight.
It was infected with hookworm and was suffering a hypoalbuminaemic condition (protein deficiency in blood), which required antibiotics.
It stayed at the clinic until rehydrated and then transferred to the RSPCA’s Yagoona shelter for rehabilitation.
“The dog would have died the night it was seized if it had been left,” the organisation stated in court documents.
The court heard that Ms Eddy did not notice the dog was missing until April 5.
She told the RSCPA that she knew the dog was skinny but could not afford veterinary treatment. Further, she had never wormed it and did not know why it didn’t have any water.
Ms Eddy said she’d seen the dog advertised for free some six months earlier.
The court fined her a total $400 and prohibited her from owning a dog for 10 years.
The dog, named ‘Feathers’ by the RSPCA after its light weight, gained 20.1kg over nine weeks and was adopted to a new home.
“He now has excellent health,” court documents stated.