Merseyside woman sentenced for allowing dog to starve to death

This article contains distressing images.

Billie-Louise Elizabeth Lewis, of Frodsham Drive, St Helens, appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced after RSPC officers found her dog Hugo dead in a room with chew marks on the doors.

The 22-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to one offence of causing unnecessary suffering to Hugo, by failing to investigate and address his weight loss. The dog, aged just two and a half, was found dead after members of the public reported concerns for his wellbeing on November 18, 2023.

The RSPCA immediately began investigating and eventually gained access to the house two days later. Upon entering the kitchen, Inspector Joanne McDonald was hit with “a very strong smell” and discovered Hugo - a large Bull breed - dead on the floor.

Addressing Liverpool Magistrates’ Court last week, Inspector McDonald said: “I also noticed there were numerous maggots on his body. [He] appeared extremely thin and I could easily see his spine, ribs and hindquarters. I saw two bowls down in the kitchen, one had a very slight amount of water in and the other was empty.”

What appeared to be chew marks were also visible on the doors, faeces were seen by the back door and a “ripped apart” dog bed was on the floor.

Hugo’s body was taken to the RSPCA’s Greater Manchester Animal Hospital to be checked by a vet, who said he was “severely emaciated” and would have suffered hunger, weakness and discomfort, and that he would have also suffered mentally.

In interview, Lewis said she hadn’t taken Hugo to see a vet because they said he needed exploratory surgery costing thousands of pounds. She also said she started feeding Hugo a ‘mixture of pasta and various meat’, which the vet said would not have been nutritionally balanced or meet his needs.

She said she’d stopped spending time with Hugo after he “went for” her brother a few weeks before, and that he was being left alone for long periods of time which had made him “depressed”.

Inspector McDonald said there were “what appeared to be hundreds of maggots on his body” and he “was in a high state of decomposition.”

The vet who examined Hugo’s body said he had a body condition score of 1/9 - with one meaning emaciation, four being ideal and nine being obese. The vet’s witness statement added: “The dog weighed 14.2kg. I would estimate a dog of this breed type and stature should weigh approximately 20-25kg

Billie-Louise Elizabeth Lewis was banned from keeping any animal for five years, handed a 12-month community order with 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days, fined £120 and ordered to pay a £114 victim surcharge.