In 2012, a drug dependent couple who starved their dog because they could not afford to feed it were spared jail by a judge who took pity on them. The couple who we shall call Frank (23 at the time), and Alice (27 at the time) of Warsop, Nottinghamshire, admitted failing to provide nutrition between the 2nd and 16th January of that year and failing to get veterinary care on the 16th of January for the dog.

The Prosecutor told the court how the German Shepherd in question, known as Zara, was seized by police after an RSPCA inspector discovered her in a ‘thin’ condition at the couple’s home. The vet said "On a scale of one to five, if five was obese and one was emaciated, this would merit a score of less then one-and-a-half." The vet also stated “The dog also had long nails which gives rise to a belief that there was a lack of exercise.”

The drug dependent couple got a 12 month reprimand and were told they had been banned from keeping pets for 5 years. The German Shepherd was destroyed as it developed behavioural difficulties after Alice handed the dog over to the RSPCA.

This one of thousands of examples of animal abuse which come in many forms. 

We, the people, feel and believe that anyone who can do such a thing to any animal in which it is mistreated in any way or form, whether drug dependent or not, should be banned from keeping animals for at least a minimum of 10 years. We feel that a 5 year ban is not a strict enough sentence. We also feel that drug dependent people who are also found guilty of animal abuse should get even tougher sentences.