Couple left pets to starve while on holiday

[Catherine]

I can't believe the absolute callous disregard for their pets shown by this couple. They went on a two week luxury vacation and left their 3 pets at home alone with no care. They must have put out some food and water, but not enough. One cat was found dead by the RSPCA. The other cat and dog were starving. It is fortunate that a neighbour alerted the RSPCA who rescued the surviving pets.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0


http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0

When the couple came back they tried to blame the neglect on the wife's mother, saying she was supposed to care for the animals. This turned out not to be true.

They were found guilty and have fines to pay and community service hours to perform. They have suspended sentences for some jail time. I would like to see them serve that time. They can't own pets for 12 years. The neglected pets have been taken from them.

I hope the pets can forget what they went through in their new homes. Sadly the one cat died a miserable death and nothing we can do will change that.

[Tobi]

That is very very sad. That poor old cat. As he/she was old and unwell anyway, it probably may not even have been able to handle dry kibble (which I am sure is what it got) and may have needed some special attention.
They left some food obviously, but didn't estimate properly how much would be needed. They basically didn't care enough. They were too focused on their luxury break.
Even if they had left massive quantities of food and water down, the animals would have still been distressed about their people disappearing for ages like that. No guidance, no comforts, and very little food & water. It is no way to treat animals.

The RSPCA did a good job here.

[Catherine]

Why didn't they ask the neighbour to check on their pets. The neighbour was watching enough to call the RSPCA.

You can leave food out if you are going to be late home. You could probably leave enough food and water if you were going to be away overnight and returning the next day. After that it is too long to leave your pets. Anything could happen and in this case it did.

I don't know about the UK, but in Canada if you leave a house unattended for more than 3 days(I think it is three) it invalidates your house insurance. When I cat sit, I also am house sitting.  I do a walk through to be sure the house is okay.  One year  it turned very cold suddenly and I had to call the daughter to ask how to turn on the furnace.  The cat would have been very cold. Also the plumbing would have frozen and ruptured. I had the furnace on and the house warm long before that happened.

They were idiots to leave their house. I don't know what to call them for leaving their pets alone.

It is sad that the cat that wasn't well died alone and unaided. They gave him a miserable death.
I feel bad for the neighbour who must have worried and wondered what to do before calling the RSPCA. The question will always be there, could I have saved the other cat if I had noticed sooner.

[Catslave]

Poor things horrible people,can't say much more with out using swear words.

[Catherine]

Quote:Poor things horrible people,can't say much more with out using swear words.

I know how you feel, but you can't swear on the forum because we have a censorship program. It prevents nasty posts, but sometimes you want to use strong language.

I can't imagine how their family and friends are reacting to them. I wouldn't trust them with anything after that.