Newcastle woman failed to take her dog to the vet despite him suffering from visible tumours

A woman repeatedly failed to take her elderly dog to a vet - despite him suffering from visible tumours and low body weight.

Staffordshire bull terrier Dozer was found with an untreated anal mass. His owner Donna Marie Morrison, 42, was advised on several occasions to him to take him to a vet for treatment.

The RSPCA even booked a vet appointment on her behalf - but she still failed to take him. The tumours spread through his body, resulting in his thin body condition, and he sadly had to be put to sleep.

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Following a prosecution by the RSPCA, Morrison, of Durham Street, Elswick, Newcastle, was sentenced at Newcastle Magistrates' Court on April 5. She was banned from keeping animals for 10 years and sentenced to a 18 month community order.

She was also ordered to carry out 25 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days, 100 hours of unpaid work and pay a £114 victim surcharge and £1,170 in costs.

The court in Newcastle heard how the RSPCA first visited Morrison's property in September 2022 to carry out a condition check on Dozer, after receiving concerns from the public about the dog.

Dozer was found to have a large lump near his rear end and was quite subdued. The visiting RSPCA inspector advised Morrison that they needed to take Dozer to the vet for treatment and she agreed to do this.

Inspector Helen Nedley said: "My colleague, Inspector Suzanne Edgar found that Dozer had a soft lump the size of a golf ball around his tail area. He also had a small lump the size of the end of a Biro pen on his front right leg. She strongly advised Donna Morrison to take Dozer to the vets for a check up on these lumps within the next two weeks."

But Dozer was never taken to a vet.

Despite an RSPCA officer making a vet appointment on Morrison's behalf, the owner failed to take Dozer. By May 2023, the ailing dog - now very thin - was in a very serious condition and was signed over to the RSPCA so that he could be assessed for treatment by a vet.

A vet examined Dozer and found that the dog had a mass on the right-side of his anus, was showing signs of significant weight loss with very thin body condition and was very subdued.

An ultrasound also revealed two very large, hard masses inside Dozer's abdomen pressing against his bladder, which had possibly spread from the original tumour.

The vet stated that given that Dozer's weight loss was likely to have been somewhat chronic in nature, and that the anal mass had been present for some time, suffering could have been avoided if the dog had been taken to a vet sooner. It was likely Dozer had suffered for several weeks.

He added that given the significant weight loss and the presence of the tumour, the needs of the Staffie were not being met.

RSPCA Inspector Helen Nedley added: "It was Morrison’s legal responsibility to properly care for Dozer and she failed to do this. There was no excuse for failing to seek veterinary care for him when it was abundantly clear he so desperately needed it.

"This was an awful case and Dozer’s suffering could have easily been avoided. The RSPCA urges anyone struggling to take care of their animal to ask for help and act on advice, rather than neglecting them and leaving them to suffer."