Ten year ban on keeping dogs for woman who allowed pet to starve to death

A woman has been banned from keeping dogs for ten years after allowing her pet bulldog Patch to starve to death, following a successful prosecution by the RSPCA.

Zainab Ayinla (14/05/1986) of Loughborough Park, Stockwell, was sentenced to a ten year ban, fined £300 and was ordered to pay £800 costs after pleading not guilty to an animal welfare offence at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on 29 February,

The RSPCA was asked to investigate after Patch’s emaciated body was taken to a vet hospital on 17 December 2022. The vet described his body condition as “shocking”, he had lost 13kg of weight since last being seen at the hospital seven months before.

Ayinla had called the hospital two months before saying that Patch had lost weight, but she failed to keep a scheduled vet appointment. She called again on the morning of 17 December saying Patch wasn’t able to walk, had laboured breathing and was twitching. By the time she had got him to the vets he had died.

The vet said: “His condition at presentation was shocking: he was significantly underweight with an accountable weight loss of 13kg in the past seven months since the last time he was seen at the hospital in May 2022, with very long nails and bed sores and urine scalding.

“Considering Patch’s presentation on the 17 December and the missed appointment in November, is it my professional opinion that Patch went through a significant period of suffering until the time of his death. Would the owner have him brought to us sooner and probably we would have been able to help him, whether from a medical point of view or supporting the owner in providing care for her pet.”

A post mortem report found that Patch had 92g of plastic material in his stomach, suggesting he was able to eat and the most likely cause of death was starvation as a result of inadequate access to nutritious food.

RSPCA inspector Philip Norman, who investigated for the animal welfare charity, said: “Animals are completely reliant on their owners to ensure their needs are met. Providing food and water is an essential. Owning an animal is a privilege – and ensuring appropriate care is a key part of the responsibility we have towards them. It’s sad that, in this instance, the owner of Patch failed to provide him with a suitable diet and as a result allowed him to suffer for a prolonged period of time.”

Ayinla was deemed unsuitable for unpaid work. In mitigation, she said she had done everything she could for the dog and had sought advice from vets about worming and his weight loss, but that this was not recorded in the hospital records for Patch.

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