CONVICTED (2024) | Cheney Ruby Roach, born 25 February 1988, of Alford Avenue, Withington, Manchester M20 1AQ – moved out of accommodation, leaving her dog behind to starve to death. Distressing video footage captured the moment when an RSPCA officer found the skeletal remains of a starved dog wrapped in an old duvet. The dog’s owner, Cheney Ruby Roach, told RSPCA staff that she had been staying with a friend for a few months but claimed she had returned every other day to feed the Shar-pei cross, named Bella. A vet said that shar-pei cross Bella had been starved for at least two weeks despite Cheney Roach’s claims that she had fed her every other day. Roach said she had found the dog dead a week or two before the RSPCA visited the family home in which she had been abandoned. A vet statement read to the court said that Bella weighed just 8.3kg and was given a body condition score of 1/9. Chewed up toothbrushes were found in her stomach. The vet said Bella had likely experienced ‘frustration, boredom, helplessness, loneliness, anxiety and fear’ during the period of her abandonment. They estimated that Bella had been left to starve for at least two weeks. The vet added: “There was a lack of food in the gastrointestinal tract and foreign material present suggests the dog experienced hunger and resorted to pica (ingesting non-foodstuffs) to try to satisfy this feeling of hunger.” RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer (ARO) Ross Allan first visited Roach’s house on 13 December 2023 but had no answer when he knocked on the door, and couldn’t see any dogs in the property. He said: “I did see signs that a dog had been there, such as discarded dog food tins and toys laying in the bin and in the front garden. I also saw a 2ft square hole in the front garden. I sealed the front and back door and posted a contact note asking the occupant to contact us.” He spoke to neighbours and they said they’d not seen a dog or the family for some time, so he contacted the caller for more information. ARO Allan returned to the property five days later to check the seals and found they’d not been broken so he contacted the police for help to get inside. During a search of the house, Ross found the body of Bella wrapped in a Spiderman duvet in a cupboard. ARO Allan added: “In the kitchen there was an empty dog food wrapper, an empty bowl and a strong smell of ammonia. In the front room was a shovel with dirt on it, propped up next where I found the body.” Roach admitted causing unnecessary suffering to Bella and failing to meet her needs. In mitigation, the court heard Roach had had problems at home and couldn’t face going back to her property, and that she’d been struggling with alcohol at the time of Bella’s death. Sentencing | 12-month community order with 15 rehabilitation requirement activity days and 220 hours of unpaid work; £600 in costs plus £114 victim surcharge. Disqualified from keeping all animals for five years (expires August 2029). Rotherham Advertiser Vet Times