The unloved pets died in agony when the loft was nailed shut and they were abandoned without food or water.
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| Julie Taylor |
Now Julie Taylor, 50, and Jamie Taylor, 31, have each been jailed for 16 weeks and banned from keeping animals for life for causing “horrendous suffering”.
The heartless pair ignored the dogs’ plaintive yelps, a court heard.
And Jamie refused to take them for walks because he was “embarrassed” that they were so skinny.
RSPCA officers tried to rescue Rottweiler Axel and Staffordshire bull terrier Bully after calls from concerned neighbours, but were denied access.
And when police finally broke in they found an “overpowering stench” of rotting flesh and the maggot-ridden corpses of the dogs
Magistrate Harry Atkinson told the Taylors: “The dogs experienced horrendous suffering before their death.
They were prisoners upstairs in the house and they died from prolonged neglect. They had no access to the rest of the house, nor to the outside world.”
The Taylors, from Bradford, West Yorks, admitted causing unnecessary suffering and failing to keep the dogs in a suitable environment.
Jamie also admitted failing to exercise reasonable care and supervision.
RSPCA prosecutor Nigel Monaghan told how the dogs were found surrounded by faeces, with plastic sheets instead of bedding and empty food and water bowls.
He told the court: “It is difficult to think of a worse case of animal cruelty.
"A board of slats was nailed in place to stop them getting out of the attic and going down the stairs.”
A vet concluded that the dogs died of starvation and dehydration.
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| Jamie Taylor |
An American bulldog called Buster was found living downstairs.
He was well fed and exercised and has been taken into care by the RSPCA.
The Taylors, both on income support and incapacity benefit, claimed Axel and Bully weren’t allowed downstairs because Buster fought with them.
Speaking after the hearing, RSPCA inspector Dave Holgate said: “Walking up the stairs to the attic, where the animals had starved to death, the smell was atrocious.
“I don’t know how anyone was able to live at the property. It was indescribable. They had just left the dogs to rot.”
(Daily Mirror - Feb 23, 2012)
