A woman has been banned from owning or keeping animals for a period of time after failing to get necessary treatment for her cat who had to be put down.
Adele Milne, of Manchester Road, Werneth, caused unnecessary suffering to her black and white cat, Millie, between May 22 and June 5 this year.
At Tamside Magistrates' Court on November 6, Milne was sentenced after pleading guilty on September 7.
The 38-year-old failed to act when Millie needed treatment on an ulcerated necrotic mass, or a tumour that broke through the cat's skin, creating a wound on her stomach.
RSPCA animal rescue officer Jessica Pierce went to Milne’s home on June 5 this year to check up on the cat after receiving a report she had been injured.
In a statement presented to the court, the animal rescue officer said the wound the pet was suffering from was “one of the worst wounds” she had seen on a cat.
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Ms Pierce said: “The defendant said the wound had been there for a couple of months and started as a small lump which the cat had licked. She stated that she had tried ringing vets and an animal charity who had attended, but couldn’t catch the cat.”
Milne agreed that the animal rescue officer could take the cat to the Greater Manchester Animal Hospital, where a vet’s examination found Millie was suffering from a malignant mammary tumour, as well as significant dental disease.
The vet said the tumour would have caused the feline significant suffering for “at least a week and possibly significantly longer”.
In his expert report, he stated: “The extent of ulceration, infection and areas of dying tissue were likely to be associated with significant pain. Early veterinary intervention could have been successful in treating the tumour.
“But such tumours often carry a poor prognosis, so euthanasia is often the best option before the lesion gets to a stage such as this to cause unnecessary suffering. In my opinion, allowing the ulceration to get to this extent, would have led to significant suffering for the cat.”
It was decided that the best thing to do was to put Millie to sleep and end her suffering.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE
In mitigation, the court was told that Milne had bought different things from the shop to treat the cat’s wound at home.
Milne was disqualified from owning or keeping an animal for a period of nine months and was handed a community order, instructing her to attend 10 days of rehabilitation activity requirement.
Milne was also ordered to pay a fine of £120, a victim surcharge of £114 and court costs of £50, bringing her total costs to £284.
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