A DOG was kept in conditions so squalid they made a police officer physically sick.
The animal was found by officers executing a search warrant at a house in Leven Way, Hayes to look for drugs, magistrates were told.
They found no drugs but discovered Raja, a 10-year old Rottweiler, in distress, Uxbridge magistrates heard.
Pictures of the dog were passed to the magistrates. Stella Waata, prosecuting, said there was faeces in the room and floorboards were saturated with urine.
“There was a pungent smell of ammonia,” she said. “The stench was so strong it made an officer’s eyes burn and caused her to retch and throw up.”
It was established Raja was owned by the house’s landlord, Kewal Singh Rai, 57.
Mr Rai, of North Hyde Road, first denied causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and failing to ensure the welfare of an animal, but changed his plea when he appeared at the court on Monday .
“The dog looked old and he struggled to stay on his feet,” Ms Waata told the court.
“There were signs of muscle wastage, and he had a cysts on his head and right shoulder.
“All of Raja’s bones were protruding and he had warts and cuts. He also had a skin complaint that had been left untreated.
“The sofa had a big hole in it, but there was no sign of the material, which would lead us to believe that the dog had chewed at and ingested the cushioning.”
Raja was taken to the police station, where he was fed and watered and put on a course of antibiotics.
He recovered well at first but, after he took a turn for the worse, the decision was made to put him down. But he died of a stomach ulcer before this could be done.
The court heard Mr Rai had split from his wife, been edged out of a taxi business he owned a stake in and been declared bankrupt in the last two years.
These were given as contributing reasons for the neglect.
The magistrates disqualified him from keeping animals for five years, ordered him to carry out 80 hours’ unpaid work and pay £50 in costs.
