Disturbing images have emerged of a neglected dog covered in so much squalor the smell made RSPCA rescuers feel ill.
The weight of filth bound up in Barney’s coat made it difficult for him to walk around his messy Ramsgate home.
His cruel owner Tim Ronald Springett, 50, repeatedly ignored the animal welfare charity’s pleas to groom the Russian terrier, and failed to provide a sheltered sleeping area.
Springett, of Ramsgate, has now been banned from keeping pets for five years after admitting animal welfare offences.
Police seized Barney at Springett’s home, where they found him wandering in the garden caked in fur, clambering over mess, and smelling of faeces.
Shocking bodycam footage shows the animal cramped in a cluttered garden next to a crate.
But now dramatic before and after images show an incredible transformation after his 8kg coat, which weighed a fifth of his body weight, was shaved off.
Barney had not been groomed for a year and seven months despite the RSPCA making “several attempts” to encourage Springett to care for the animal properly, the charity says.
Describing how the pet’s poor odour made her feel ill, animal welfare inspector Tina Nash, said: “The dog did not smell very nice and made me want to wretch.
“He was extremely matted, with big clumps of fur hanging off of him that appeared to be full of dirt or faeces and tightly bound to areas around his back.
“The environment was very untidy with lots of stuff everywhere and very dirty.
“I went into the back garden which was covered in faeces and very dirty.
“There were no dry areas for the dog.”
Springett, 50, told the authorities he “loves dogs” but argued a bout of poor health meant he was unable to properly care for the animal.
When the terrier was discovered in March last year he was immediately taken to a vet.
“The dog had been made to support a coat weighing approximately 21% of his body weight as he moved around,” the vet who cared for Barney said.
“The weight of this coat would have risen considerably when the dog was wet. I am in no doubt that this would cause the animal physical stress as he moved.
“It is my professional opinion, based on the information provided to me, that the person responsible for the care of the dog had failed to provide the dog with a sheltered sleeping area with bedding.”
Springett pleaded guilty to two counts of animal welfare offences at Margate Magistrate’s Court on January 22
He was banned from owning any animal for five years, handed a 12-month community order,10 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days, and ordered to pay £400 costs and a £95 victim surcharge.
