The title terrier dog.
A JUDGE has described as ‘appalling’ a student who left her dog to starve – while she went to live with her mother.
Natalie McGranaghan appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with cruelty to animals.
DPSCA Inspector Kevin McGinley told Judge Paul Kelly that he went to McGranaghan’s rented home at Leitir Ard, Letterkenny, on March 12 last year after reports a dog had been abandoned there.
The flat in which the dog was found.
Inspector McGinley said he could hear a dog inside the property but could not see one. He left a note at the house asking the occupant to contact him.
He returned two days later and again heard a dog and decided to call gardai who forced entry into the property.
Inside the house he found an emaciated terrier dog abandoned, covered in its own excrement. A bucket filled with water had been left beside the dog but it was unable to drink from it as it was too tall for the pup to reach.
“The dog was in a poor state,” McGinley told the court.
“Its backbone was protruding and its ribs were prominent.”
He traced owner Natalie McGranaghan to her mother’s home but she had claimed she had sold the dog.
She later admitted she hadn’t – but claimed she had fed the dog two days earlier.
Judge Paul Kelly – looking at these pictures – remarked that “this was an appalling thing to do to an unfortunate defenceless animal.”
The judge adjourned sentence until July 16 to allow McGranaghan time to pay €400 in veterinary bills.
The dog has since made a full recovery.