One of the dogs had to be put down after it was rushed to a vets from the care of Natalie Bailey, aged 31 and from Great Barr
A woman who ran a private boarding kennels in Birmingham has admitted a series of animal welfare offences against three dogs, with one of needing to be put down.
Natalie Bailey, of Copthorne Road in Great Barr, was investigated after the RSPCA was alerted by a staff member at a vets when a bulldog was brought to them in a shocking state.
There were concerns the dog had been neglected at private kennels in Cooksey Lane, Kingstanding, between November 20023 and January 2024.
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The staff member said English bulldog, Rochea, was brought in by a woman who was ‘very panicked’, who had ‘blood over her arms’.
The worker said: “She said she had picked her dog up from the boarding kennels and that she thought she was dying.
“I went straight out to the car and there were two bulldogs in the back seat.
“One was stood up, bright and appeared pleased to see me, whereas the other was very lethargic.
“On closer inspection she appeared collapsed, she was passing bloody diarrhoea, her mucous membranes were pale and tacky, she had wounds on her face, she felt cold and was severely underweight. She looked in a very bad way and I was concerned.”
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“The owner explained to me the dogs had been at a boarding kennels for several weeks while the owner was moving house.
“She said she had been sent some photos while they had been boarding.
“The owner said she rang the kennels as she was worried they may have run out of food.
“The woman at the kennels said they were fine, the owner felt this was strange and so took a bag of food round anyway.
“When she arrived, she found the dog in this condition so collected her straight away and brought her straight to us.”
The dog had collapsed and had to be put down after the owner gave consent.
It was found that between December 7, 2023, and January 29, 2024, Rochea had not been given enough food, suffered weight loss and had been caused to suffer.
A second Staffordshire bull terrier-type dog, Brindy, was also found to be suffering when she was presented in an emaciated state with a history of vomiting at a different vets.
She was cared for by Bailey between November 16, 2023, and January, 16, 2024, while her owner was in hospital.
Brindy too had not been given adequate food, had lost weight and was in a poor condition.
A third dog, an English bulldog called Beau, was found to have been left in a crate for a long period, causing it to suffer scalding due to standing in urine and faeces, not providing appropriate food, keeping the dog in an unclean environment and ‘failing to enable the animal to exhibit normal behaviour patterns’.
That took place between December 7, 2023, and January 29, 2024
In addition, Bailey had been operating a boarding kennels without a licence.
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The 31-year-old was banned from keeping animals for ten years after pleading guilty to offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
She was also handed a one-year jail term, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to carry out 25 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) days when she was sentenced at Birmingham Intense Supervision Court on April 10.
RSPCA inspector, Jack Alderson, who investigated, said: “Owners trusted Bailey with their pets, expecting a level of care which they sadly did not receive.”
