Man who let American XL Staffordshire bull terrier dog starve to death banned from owning animals for life

A man has been banned from keeping animals for life after he left his dog starving to death.

Brian John Farmer, from Nairn, was sentenced on Monday at Inverness Sheriff Court after he pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to his American XL cross Staffordshire bull terrier.

In February 2022, the Scottish SPCA received a call to its helpline regarding an abandoned dog at a property in Church Street.

The council forced entry to the property, however, due to the conditions inside, had to call in industrial cleaners.

The body of a one-and-a-half-year-old dog named Duke was discovered inside.

Scottish SPCA chief inspector, Iain Allan said that the property was in a “terrible” state and was “filthy, with a strong, foul-smelling odour.”

He added that rubbish, consisting of empty food packets, empty chewed food tins, chewed foam from the sofa and dog faeces, covered the floor and the room was cold as there had been no heating on within the premises for some time.

He added: “We were shocked to see the emaciated body of a large dog in the kitchen/living room area.

“It was obvious from the state of decay of the carcass that the dog had been dead for some time. The dog was lying stretched out on the linoleum floor in front of the chewed up sofa.”

Duke was identified and vet determined in a post mortem that the cause of death was severe malnutrition.

At Inverness Sheriff Court, Farmer was sentenced to a community payback order of 250 hours unpaid work to be completed within 12 months, and a supervision period for two years.

He was also sentenced to a disqualification order from keeping animals indefinitely after failing to provide adequate care and provision for Duke’s welfare.

Mr Allan added: “We are pleased that Farmer received an indefinite ban from keeping animals. The suffering and pain Duke endured at the hands of Farmer were absolutely shocking.

“If anyone has concerns about an animal they should call our animal helpline on 03000 999 999.”