Pet ban for man who tied Weimaraner dog to drain pipe (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Pet ban for man who tied Weimaraner dog to drain pipe

6:50am Tuesday 3rd November 2009 in

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A jobless man whose dog was found emaciated and tied to a drain pipe in his back garden has been banned from owning animals for six years.

Wayne Altrudo, 28, said his mum bought the Weimaraner named “Skye” for £100 on website Gumtree as a present for his children.

But when the RSPCA visited his council house six months later, they were shocked to find the dog badly malnourished and tied up in his garden filled with hazards.

It led to Altrudo, of Carlton Avenue, Feltham, being sentenced at Feltham Magistrates’ Court last Friday after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary harm to an animal, and not protecting her from pain, injury, suffering and disease.

The court heard an RSPCA inspector visited Altrudo’s house on June 20 this year. There was no reply at the front door, but she became concerned when she saw Skye in the garden.

Paul Green, prosecuting, said: “The dog was tethered to a drain pipe by three metres of electric cable. The end of the cable had been chewed and the end was exposed.”

The inspector took photos before calling the police. Officers decided Skye immediately needed to go to a vet, who later found the dog was suffering from worms and gave her a “body condition score” of one out of five.

Mr Green added: “The dog had no palpable body fat and had a considerable loss of body mass.

“She gave this as her professional opinion that the dog had been suffering over a number of weeks.”

Skye put on 3kg in just a fortnight when the RSPCA, who have taken her into their care, fed her regularly and treated her for worms.

Altrudo claimed in interview he had fed the dog twice a day, but she could not stay in the house because his son had asthma.

He told the court: “It was from Gumtree, it was cheap and my kids asked me for a dog and I didn’t know it would upset his asthma.”

Magistrates sentenced Altrudo to a six-week community order with a curfew between 8pm and 6am every day. He was also banned from owning an animal for six years, and ordered to pay £400 RSPCA costs.

Altrudo said he would appeal against the sentence.

Inspector Nicola Thorne, of the RSPCA, said: "Skye's health dramatically improved while she was in RSPCA care and she soon gained weight when being fed well.

"We are really pleased with the sentence and the case highlights how important it is to have the time, money and knowledge about how to look after a pet before you take one on. Ignorance is not an excuse for allowing an animal to suffer."

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