February 16, 2018 4.36 pm This story is over 79 months old

‘He was all skin and bones’: Man jailed for mistreating pet cat

The cat had cancer and was left to suffer.
Dobby the cat was in so much suffering he had to be put to sleep.

Boston man Jason Charnley has been jailed three months and disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years for allowing his cat Dobby to suffer.

Charnley, 46, of Frampton Place, who also uses the name Jay Maddy, appeared at Boston Magistrates’ Court on February 12 for sentencing before being given a 12-week custodial sentence; a 12-month supervision order; ordered to pay £500 costs and a £115 victim surcharge.

He was disqualified from keeping all animals for 10 years and deprived of any other animals in his care.

Dobby the cat was in so much suffering he had to be put to sleep.

Dobby, a 13-year-old ginger neutered male cat with three legs, was found collapsed and emaciated in a garden on Revesby Avenue on August 14 2017.

His stomach was swollen ‘like a water balloon’ and he had broken teeth, infected gums and was infested with fleas. Post mortem examination found he had cancer and his stomach contained 600ml of fluid.

Dobby was left to suffer by owner Jason Charnley.

Charnley was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to Dobby between July 14 to August 14 2017, after failing to explore and address his deteriorating physical condition and his chronic dental disease contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

RSPCA inspector Becky Harper said: “We went out to collect poor Dobby after he was found in someone’s garden and, as he wasn’t wearing a collar or microchipped, put up a lost and found poster asking anyone who might be missing him to call us.

“He was taken straight to a vets where after examination he was put to sleep, such was the extent of his suffering.

RSPCA found Dobby in someone else’s garden.

“We thought he must be either unowned or a long-term missing-from-home, given the state of him, so it was a surprise when his owner got in touch later that day and said they had last seen him that morning and he rarely left the garden.

“It would have been obvious to anyone that Dobby was suffering. He was skin and bones and his stomach was swollen like a water balloon.”