Woman Banned Indefinitely from Animal Ownership After Puppy’s Starvation Death

An indefinite prohibition on animal ownership has been imposed on a woman who caused the death of her eight-month-old puppy by starvation and subsequently left its deceased body in a crate. Dazie Howe, aged 25, initially asserted that the animal, identified as a female chihuahua-shih tzu cross, did not belong to her and expressed being “baffled” by the discovery of a dog in her garden by RSPCA inspectors. According to the RSPCA, the animal had undergone “severe suffering” for a minimum of one month, being discovered in an underweight condition and situated amidst faeces. Howe, residing at Lascelles Place, Goldsborough, near Knaresborough, previously pleaded guilty to animal cruelty. On 1 November, at York Magistrates’ Court, she received an 18-month community order, in addition to the ban, and was issued a fine of £334. Magistrates heard that RSPCA inspector Rowena Proctor visited Howe’s residence on 18 February, where she discovered the dog deceased, with its ribs, pelvis, and spine visibly protruding. In her submitted written evidence, Ms Proctor stated: “Before I had even explained why I was there, Howe immediately started to say ‘that dog is not mine, I don’t even know if it is a dog or how it got there, but my dog died and that isn’t her.’” She further recounted: “As I took photos, Ms Howe stood beside me telling me how her dog, Joey, had died at the vets and asked me if the ‘thing’ in the crate was a dog.” The court was informed that despite a microchip identifying Howe as the dog’s registered owner, she maintained it was not hers and suggested the RSPCA could “keep it”. When questioned regarding the soiled crate, Howe informed the inspector that the wind must have dispersed a bag of faeces she had placed outside by the shed, scattering the waste. Subsequently, photographs obtained from the breeder were retrieved from Howe’s mobile phone, depicting Joey as “an alert puppy with a shiny coat”. Ms Proctor commented: “Joey was a tiny dog who wasn’t even fully grown and she would have only required a small amount of nutrition to keep her alive.” She added that no food had been supplied, and because the dog had been confined within the crate, it was unable to sustain itself. Howe subsequently entered a guilty plea to the charge of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and was informed that she would be unable to challenge the prohibition on animal ownership for a period of 10 years. The community order mandates her to complete 25 days of rehabilitation activity requirements.