A dog was left with a large tumour on his face had to be put down by vets, it has been confirmed. RSPCA inspectors in Australia found the poor four-year-old English Staffordshire terrier with a large black fleshy tumour which caused the right side of his face to droop heavily. The tumour hung low towards the animal’s neck, causing his eyelid hang down.
It came after an inspector visited the New South Wales home of the pet’s owner last year after receiving a cruelty complaint. The owner surrendered the dog and he was taken to a vet to be checked over, but wasn’t able to be saved because the tumour had been left for too long.
The vet said it couldn’t be safely removed and the animal’s quality of life was badly affected. The pet’s owner, a 44-year-old man from Wyong, was later taken to court because the dog had been denied treatment.
In October 2019, he entered a guilty plea and convicted of committing an act of aggravated cruelty and of failing to provide veterinary treatment to his pet dog. He said he was unable to afford vet costs, but the RSPCA say they would have helped.
He was ordered to undergo mental health treatment and banned from purchasing, acquiring, taking possession or custody of any animal other than the two dogs he already owned, for a period of two years.
The District Court Judge commented in the judgment “the care of animals requires selfless decisions to be made [and] this is one of those circumstances”.
RSPCA NSW Chief Inspector Scott Meyers said: “It is crucial that pet owners seek veterinary treatment for their sick, injured or unhealthy animals in a timely manner.
“Organisations like RSPCA NSW can provide assistance to those in need of extra help, advice or support so that we as a community can work towards improving animal welfare outcomes together.”
