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    • Couple left dog in ‘excruciating pain’ with tumor ‘the size of a watermelon’
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    Couple left dog in ‘excruciating pain’ with tumor ‘the size of a watermelon’

    Online Niel Posted on

    The tumor had been growing for several months or even years

    The 14-year-old dog was covered in blood after trying to eat the meal, which a vet said had been growing for months or even years.
    The 14-year-old dog was covered in blood after trying to eat the meal, which a vet said had been growing for months or even years.(Image: RSPCA)

    A Wirral couple who left their dog with a tumor so large it could not walk properly have been sentenced. Mark Smith, 48, and Rachael Johnson, 47, of Thorburn Road in New Ferry, were prosecuted by the RSPCA after their elderly Staffordshire Bull Terrier, called Skylar, was found with a large mammary tumor ulcerated “the size of a cantaloupe” hanging between the legs.

    The 14-year-old dog was covered in blood after trying to eat the meal, which a vet said had been growing for months or even years. At a sentencing hearing at Wirral At Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (October 23), Smith was jailed for 34 weeks – 16 weeks for an offense against the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and 18 weeks for breaching a suspended sentence order imposed on January 12 this year.

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    Johnson received a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and was ordered to complete 20 days of rehabilitation and a nine-month alcohol treatment requirement. The couple, who both pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a charge of causing Skylar unnecessary suffering by failing to provide veterinary treatment, were also banned from owning animals for ten years.

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    The court heard how RSPCA animal rescue officer Katie Glenn went to the couple’s home on February 8 this year after the charity received reports of a dog with a burst abscess. In her written statement to the court, the officer said: “When I knocked on the address, Mark Smith answered the door and showed me into the living room.

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    “This is where I saw Skylar. She was lying on an old mattress where it was clear that she had been licking and eating at the erupting abscess on her abdomen area for some time. I asked the owner how long the dog had been like this. He said little, but the abscess only burst today. He confirmed that the dog had not been to the vet in the last four years because he could not afford it.”

    Skylar had a tumor 'the size of a watermelon'
    Skylar had a tumor ‘the size of a watermelon’(Image: RSPCA)

    Smith agreed to let the RSPCA take Skylar for emergency veterinary treatment and she was transferred into the charity’s care because of her condition. Smith said he understood a vet might recommend putting her to sleep and that the RSPCA might need to talk to her more about her condition.

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    The vet who examined Skylar said she needed to be put to sleep immediately, such was the severity of her condition. In her written evidence to the court, she said: “Skylar’s large breast mass will be uncomfortable and has affected her ability to move normally.

    “The table hung between her legs and swayed when she tried to walk, affecting her limb positioning and overall balance. Furthermore, it was difficult for him to sleep, take food/water and play.

    Skylar, 14, was covered in blood after trying to eat the meal, which a vet said had been growing for months or even years.
    Skylar, 14, was covered in blood after trying to eat the meal, which a vet said had been growing for months or even years.(Image: RSPCA)

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    “The size of the mass makes it likely that it grew over many months or even years. As the mass increased, the increase in blood supply would have increased with the mass. The next stage of progression is ulceration of the mass before it ruptures independently or through the dog’s self-injury due to pain and discomfort.

    “In my opinion, I think the mass is likely to have grown over several months, but more recently became necrotic and ulcerated in a minimum of a week. The self-injury probably occurred within one to two days; it is in this final stage that Skylar will suffer the most.”

    The vet said he would expect a reasonable dog owner to have any continuously growing nodule checked by a surgeon – and urgently if it becomes ulcerated or bleeds. Skylar’s owner failed to do this and also failed to seek treatment when she began self-injuring the lump. For her to exhibit this behavior, the severity of the pain and discomfort she is experiencing is likely to be unbearable, the vet said.

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