Seven-year-old Tyson was forced to live in a tiny backyard surrounded by his own excrement while owners of Zarak Khan and Zerena Myeah let him suffer.
Concerned neighbors heard Tyson repeatedly hurling himself at the door of the home in desperation, and threw him scraps of food to survive.
When RSPCA inspectors rescued the dog he was described as being “in the last stage of emaciation”.
Teesside Magistrates were told the dog had been starved for at least six weeks and had only survived through its own fat stores before it started breaking down its body’s muscles.
Neil Taylor, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said vets were unable to operate on a festering sore on the animal’s leg because he was too weak to undergo anesthesia.
The horrific neglect came to light in March when RSPCA officer Clare Wilson called at the house on Cadogan Street in Gresham.
While there was no answer at the door she was able to climb on a bin and peer into the back yard and was “concerned to see (Tyson) was very thin and appeared to have a sore on his thigh”.
She posted an RSPCA note through Khan’s door, but when he still failed to get in touch she returned to find Tyson “even thinner, coat matted and more emaciated than before,” said Mr Taylor.
“Very simply he wasn’t fed – he was being starved. There was feces, there was no food or water or shelter. Sadly Tyson was very poorly. In the vet’s opinion this was a prolonged period of neglect.”
In his own defense Khan, 48, who, with Andrea Zerena Myeah, had owned Tyson since he was seven months old, said his benefits (aka welfare payments for readers in the United States) had been cut for six months and he was unable to feed the dog, or himself, more than once a day.
Defense attorney Nick Woodhouse insisted Khan “was hoping he would get his benefits (welfare payments) soon” so he could get Tyson treated by vets.
Khan himself told the court: “I was really good to the dog, I looked after that dog. I had no benefits, how could I feed that dog?”
Hmm, does Khan look like a skeleton? Nope. He obviously had enough money to feed himself - and purchase cigarettes. Many shelters and humane societies now have pet food pantries for owners who are struggling to feed their pets. Did either of these two morons bother? Of course not b/c they're totally lying. They could have taken the dog to a rescue or shelter and surrendered him but they chose to do nothing while Tyson was slowly starving to death in their back yard.
Helen Sabiston, for Myeah, 46, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, said her client accepted joint responsibility for the dog even though she was no longer in a relationship with Khan and lived at a separate address.
She said when Khan’s benefits (aka welfare for readers in the United States) were stopped and he couldn’t afford food for Tyson “she assisted, but couldn’t afford the level of sustenance he needed and was giving him one tin of dog food a day”.
“She didn’t take him to the vets because he wasn’t registered in her name,” said Miss Sabiston, adding: “It is something she regrets.”
Khan and Myeah were both found guilty in their absence at a previous hearing of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and failing to ensure the needs of the animal were met.
Chair of the magistrates Frances Linsley said it was “one of the more serious cases of neglect” she had seen.
She jailed Khan for 18 weeks, ordered him to pay £500 costs and an £80 victim surcharge and disqualified him from keeping an animal for five years.
Myeah was jailed for 12 weeks and also ordered to pay £500 costs and a £80 victim surcharge. She was also disqualified from keeping an animal for five years.
Both shouted abuse at the court as they were taken away.
RSPCA inspector Clare Wilson said afterwards: “This is justice for Tyson who has been freed from his own jail cell, a little yard in Middlesbrough.
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| Tyson has since recovered and is looking for a new family |
Miss Wilson added that although Tyson was “close to death” when he was rescued he is now doing well in an RSPCA rescue centre while awaiting rehoming.
(The Sun UK - Aug 11, 2016)
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