A DOG owner who left his pet to starve after he moved half-a-mile down the road in a Suffolk village has been banned from keeping animals for three years.

Russell Claydon

A DOG owner who left his pet to starve after he moved half-a-mile down the road in a Suffolk village has been banned from keeping animals for three years.

David Clubb, 52, of Hall Street, Long Melford, near Sudbury, was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to his liver-and-white Springer Spaniel Alfie.

The court heard how the dog could have died if it were not for bailiffs discovering him three days after he had been abandoned in the property in St Catherines Road, Long Melford.

In addition to the three year animal ban he was fined �315 and ordered to pay �750 in costs to the RSPCA during the appearance at Sudbury Magistrates' Court on August 18.

After being evicted from his property in St Catherines Road, Clubb had left Alfie alone in the property for three days without telling anyone. When he was found the 14-year-old dog was said to dehydrated, very thin and had collapsed.

After the RSPCA were informed of the dog by bailiffs entering the property Alfie was treated for dehydration and emaciation by a vet and has now been successfully rehomed by the charity.

After the conviction Jason Finch, the RSPCA inspector who was involved in carrying out the rescue, said it was unbelievable that the owner was living so close by but chose not to even go and feed Alfie.

He said: “The worst thing about this case is that the defendant lived just half a mile away from where he had left his dog and did not even go back to give him a drink of water.

“Had Alfie not been found, he would have continued to suffer and may have died. As it was, he suffered over three days just because he had no water or food.”