Fine and ban for dog owner

A WOMAN whose dog was so hungry that it died when it was finally fed has been banned from owning animals for two years and fined £250, an animal welfare charity has said.

The Staffordshire bull terrier/rottweiler cross, named Buster, was “extremely emaciated” and weighed just 14.4kg when he died – less than half of his ideal weight of 34.6kg.

The Scottish SPCA was alerted when his owner, Kirsty Ann McEvoy, of Murrayburn Gardens, Edinburgh, took the dog’s body to be cremated by the PDSA.

A post-mortem examination revealed he had died from a condition called “refeeding syndrome”, a metabolic disturbance which occurs when food is reintroduced to the body after it has been starved.

The charity said McEvoy was convicted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday of causing the animal unnecessary suffering by failing to provide an adequate diet.