November 2, 2010
Birmingham Mail
A BIRMINGHAM man who allowed his pet ferret to starve to death has avoided an immediate jail sentence.
Scott Sykes, 33, of Larkspur Croft, Bromford Bridge, had previously admitted seven charges of animal cruelty.
He was sentenced to 13 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £1,236 costs.
Sykes was also banned from keeping any animal, apart from the dog he owns, for ten years.
Gaynor Sutton, prosecuting, told Birmingham Magistrates’ Court that an RSPCA officer found two ferrets, one of which was already dead, in an enclosure in an outhouse at Sykes’s home in April.
A vet who examined the dead ferret described it as the “most emaciated animal” he had ever seen in his career.
Ms Sutton said the surviving ferret appeared very thirsty and had areas of fur missing.
A water bottle was completely empty, she said, and the animal appeared to be very thin.
A vet found the surviving animal was grossly underweight and was, at best, half its normal weight.
Samuel Christopher, defending, said it was a not a case of deliberate cruelty and it had happened “due to circumstances.”
He said the animals had been “overlooked” because Sykes’s partner, who was disabled, was having difficulties with a pregnancy while he had been working in a casino.
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