41-year-old Lancashire man jailed for starving dog to death

James Thomas Ashworth, 41, of Hartley Street, Oswaldtwistle, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court on 2 January.

That followed the death of his bull breed dog Hades who was emaciated and suffering from a fractured rib and pressure sores.

The prosecution, brought by the RSPCA, comes after the charity had visited Ashworth to try to help him and his dog.

Early in 2023, Ashworth contacted the RSPCA when he was at his previous address in Burnley Road, Briercliffe, stating that his dog wasn’t eating and was losing weight and he was hoping for assistance with vet bills.

He also reported that Hades had a cut on his ear and had lost a lot of blood and he didn’t know how it had happened.

An RSPCA officer visited and took Hades to the RSPCA Greater Manchester Animal Hospital in Salford to treat the wound.

Hades was returned to his owner with advice on what to feed him to help increase his weight. A revisit a few weeks later showed that Hades had indeed increased in weight but was still quite lean.

In May 2023, Vets4Pets Colne received a call from Mr Ashworth claiming that Hades was badly burnt and an anonymous call claiming that Hades was dead.

When an RSPCA officer attended, Hades was neither suffering from burns or dead.

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Ashworth continued to contact the RSPCA East Lancashire Branch asking for vet vouchers and was provided with two vouchers.

When an officer arrived for a revisit in July 2023, there was no sign of Ashworth or the dog, however, they followed up with the vets who confirmed that Hades had been to see them following a shoulder injury which had been treated and they confirmed he had put on more weight.

Ashworth had since moved address and no other concerns had been raised to the RSPCA who believed Hades was now getting the correct nutrition and treatment he needed.

Sadly, in January 2024, the RSPCA received a call from a pet cremation service regarding concerns about a dog - Hades - over the condition the dog had been in before he died.

Susie Micallef, RSPCA Deputy Chief Inspector, who investigated, said: “This was an extremely sad case that resulted in the death of poor Hades. The dog was extremely emaciated and suffering from pressure sores. He had very clearly been suffering.”

The court heard how a vet report stated Hades had a body condition score of 1/9 with his spine and pelvic bones all protruding sharply with no discernible body fat and an obvious loss of muscle mass.

He was wearing a blue collar measuring 45cm (17.7in) in length but his neck circumference was only 29cm (11.4in) which means a 45 per cent loss if the dog did once fill the collar.

He also had pressure sores on his wrists and toes from lying on a hard surface and a fractured rib on the left hand side - consistent with blunt force trauma.

A vet report concluded there had been a lack of appropriate care and could not rule out prolonged starvation.

It added: “Hades deteriorated to the point of death, this would have caused a severe compromise in his welfare and caused unnecessary suffering as his body slowly would have shut down.

Dogs unable to move or change body positions are prone to pressure sore development.”

In mitigation, Ashworth had a note from the GP which reduced the time period of his jail sentence and Ashworth also stated that he had complied with a community order previously.

Ashworth was sentenced to 16 weeks immediate custody and was also disqualified from keeping all animals indefinitely.