A WIDNES couple was banned from keeping pets for two years this week after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to their cocker spaniel.

Jobless Thomas Cassidy, 51, and his wife, Joan, 52, of Abbey Road were prosecuted by the RSPCA at Widnes magistrates court this week for failing to provide proper care and attention for their dog.

Their pedigree black and white English blue roan cocker spaniel had not been taken to a vet for six years.

Its fur had become so overgrown and matted, its ears dragged on the floor and were three times their normal size.

The female dog's rump, legs and paws were so matted, it would have been painful for her to walk, the court heard.

RSPCA inspector Jeremy Fairclough was so appalled by the condition of the dog when he called at their home, he immediately took the cocker spaniel to the Andale veterinary centre in Ditchfield Road.

It took an hour for two veterinary nurses to trim her fur, clip her claws and clean her up.

The excess fur weighed 1.7 kilos, almost 20 per cent of the dog's weight.

"The dog was suffering from extreme and severe condition in its head, rear and ears,"Mr Philip Ness, prosecuting told magistrates.

"The dog had fleas and skin lesions."

The couple told the bench they couldn't afford to take the cocker spaniel to the vet since Mr Cassidy became unemployed six years ago.

"I did try to cut her hair with ordinary scissors," Mr Cassidy told magistrates. "I stopped because I thought I was hurting her. I tried to bath her but I couldn't.

"I don't know how she was so thin, we fed it every day. I wasn't cruel to her."

Sobbing in the dock, Mrs Cassidy said she didn't know she could have taken her to an RSPCA vet.

She said they still couldn't afford vet's fees as they were living on benefits.

Magistrates ordered the couple to pay £593 compensation at £5 a week, to cover the vet's fees and RSPCA investigation and legal fees.

Their cocker spaniel was confiscated and the couple was banned from keeping animals. They will have to apply to the RSPCA for permission to have pets when the prohibition expirres.

It means their 13-year-old daughter will have to find a new home for her two rabbits, a bird and a cat.

Chairman of the bench told the couple they were lucky to have escaped a further financial penalty or jail.

She said:"This is an imprisonable offence. We would hope that you consider very carefully any application to have any animal in your home.

"The fact that this was discovered rather than you seeking help does not look very good at all."

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