Selby man left Sam the Jack Russell to suffer so badly he had organ failure and was close to death

Edward Ernest Lees, 39, left Sam the Jack Russell living amongst piles of excrement and urine. He also had no food or water.

The dog was suffering from severe dental pain, numerous open wounds, severe dehydration and numerous infections. This resulted in him succumbing to organ failure due to lack of nutrition and no fat reserves.

RSPCA inspector Laura Jones attended the property in Saddleback Road, Howdales, Lincolnshire on January 22, last year, where she could see two Jack Russell Terriers at the window and could hear more dogs being kept in an outbuilding.

She placed sellotape across the doors and notices asking the owner of the dogs to contact her. The next day she returned to see that the tape was still intact indicating no one had been through the doors for 24-hours, so she contacted the police to gain entry.

Inspector Jones said: "When I opened the door to the sitting room where the two dogs were being kept the stench of ammonia hit me instantly and made my eyes water.

"There was no food or water available in the sitting room for these dogs, I could just see three empty bowls on the floor and two empty 10kg plastic sacks of dog biscuits which were next to a pile of excrement. The floor was also wet with what appeared to be urine.

“This was clearly a totally inadequate environment for these dogs and I was so relieved to be able to take them into our care and bring them to safety to get them the care they needed

The inspector and the police discovered three more dogs living in an outbuilding.The entire ground level floor was covered in impacted excrement and a strong stench of faeces and urine.

There was a three-seater sofa and an armchair which were both stained and ripped and more empty packets of dog food along the floor.

Inspector Jones said: “There were three empty plastic bowls on top of the excrement and a round yellow plastic container containing brown liquid, and there was a red washing up type plastic bowl with a hole in the side which was full of water.”

The dogs were removed and assessed by a vet who found that Sam was underweight with rotting teeth, gingivitis, severe dehydration, a flea infestation and he weighed around four kilograms less than he should.

The vet report concluded: “I feel that Sam was suffering. The suffering included severe dental pain, numerous open wounds, severe dehydration, active infections. His extremely poor body condition meant he was succumbing to organ failure due to lack of any form of nutrition, he had no fat reserves.”

Vets feared the worst that he would have to be put to sleep but thankfully he started to pull through and has since been rehomed.

Lees, of Grange Meadows, Selby has now been banned from keeping all mammals for 10 years.

In mitigation, Lees said that the dogs had initially belonged to a relative but he took them on when they passed away. He was having financial problems and grieving and the situation spiralled out of control.

Lees was sentenced to a 12 month community order with 140 hours unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £300 costs and a victim surcharge of £95.

All five dogs were signed over to the RSPCA’s care and Sam, Colin, Ewen and Jessie were all rehomed. Sadly, Sheldon was put to sleep on advice of a vet due to severe behavioural issues.