CONVICTED (2023) | Nicholas Kengere, born c. 2004, of Capstone Road, Bromley – left his dog tied up without food for over a week. Kengere left his black Labrador crossbreed named Blade tethered to a coat hook in his hallway while he was in hospital. Neighbours on Capstone Road reported that the dog had been abandoned prompting RSPCA officers to attend the property on January 24, 2023. One of Kengere’s friends let the officers inside where they found a dog that was very thin, with bones visible, standing in his own faeces. “The dog had been kept tethered in the stairwell with no bedding, no clean resting area and no access to toileting facilities,” prosecutor Andrew Wiles said. A vet who assessed Blade rated his body condition as two on a scale of one to nine. They said the dog was 50 per cent underweight and had no palpable body fat. The vet’s opinion was that Blade had likely been undernourished for two to three weeks or longer, Mr Wiles said. Blade also had red lumps in his eyes, known as cherry eye, which required surgical intervention. RSPCA officers placed seals on Kengere’s door to see when he returned home but these were unbroke on January 26. Officers made contact with Kengere on February 8 and he was interviewed. “He said he had been in hospital for a week before the RSPCA attended and that he tethered the dog to stop it from going into the bins in the kitchen. He admitted the dog was probably suffering and that it was his fault,” Mr Wiles said. Kengere had been an unplanned stay in hospital as he was suffering with a chronic B12 deficiency but acknowledged he should have done more for the dog. Sentencing | 12-week prison sentence suspended for a year and a half. Banned from keeping pets for a decade but can appeal from 2030 (expires August 2033). News Shopper