A WEST Belfast woman who admitted letting her Staffordshire Bull Terrier starve to death in a rear yard was today banned from keeping animals for life.
Theresa McGahey – who Belfast Crown Court heard had "significant difficulties looking after herself, never mind animals" – was also handed a conditional discharge for causing unneccesary suffering to the dog.
When the emaciated remains of the dog were found, the animal weighed just 7kg (one stone).
A vet later determined ulcers were found in its stomach, which compounded with starvation would have led to a "painful and miserable" death in "appalling conditions".
The dog's remains were discovered on March 3 last year after McGahey, of Fort Street in Belfast, called the council to ask that a dead dog be removed from the rear of her property.
Prosecuting barrister Michael Chambers said that when an animal welfare officer called at the property, McGahey claimed her dog had been poisoned.
When the officer was shown to the back of the property, one dead dog was lying in filthy conditions, with a second "extremely skinny" Staffordshire Bull Terrier lying on top of the carcass, alive but in a "poor state".
McGahey (35) claimed at the scene she had been feeding the dog but noticed it had been unwell for a couple of days. When asked why she hadn't taken the dog to the vet, McGahey said she had no-one to take her, and also she was under threat and couldn't leave her house.
She also made the case that while she was responsible for the dead dog, her partner – who is now deceased – took care of the second Staffy, which the council removed from the property.
Mr Chambers said the dog did not have any diseases, and that it died as a result of "starvation due to lack of food".
He said it was accepted that McGahey had "difficulties looking after herself, never mind animals".
Defence barrister Declan Quinn said McGahey was a woman with personal limitations who was diagnosed with having special needs in her teens.
He spoke of a childhood peppered with violence and neglect, which resulted in psychological problems.
Mr Quinn also said McGahey would adhere to a lifetime ban on keeping animals.
Imposing the ban, Judge Gordon Kerr said that given her own incapabilities, McGahey was not suitable to own dogs, or any other animals.
He warned that a breach of the ban could result in a prison sentence.
