A cruel cat owner was hauled before the courts after failing to get veterinary help for the 'largest wound' a RSPCA officer had ever seen.
Adele Milne, from Oldham, never asked a vet for help despite her cat Millie suffering with an ulcerated mass to her stomach for a 'prolonged period time'. The wound, caused by a malignant tumour, was one of the worst the RSPCA had ever seen and the cat had to be put down to end her suffering.
Milne said she had 'bought things from the shop' to treat Millie at home. The 38-year-old has now been banned from keeping animals for nine months after being prosecuted by the RSPCA.
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The RSPCA said animal rescue officer Jessica Pierce went to Milne's home on June 5 this year to check up on the black-and-white cat after receiving a report she had been injured. In a statement to the court, the officer said the wound the pet was suffering from was 'one of the worst wounds' she’d seen on a cat.
Ms Pierce said: "The defendant said the wound had been there for a couple of months and started as a small lump which the cat had licked. She stated that she had tried ringing vets and an animal charity who had attended, but couldn’t catch the cat."
**WARNING: This story contains distressing content**
Milne agreed that Millie could be taken to the Greater Manchester Animal Hospital, where a vet found she was suffering from a malignant mammary tumour, as well as significant dental disease. The vet said the tumour would have caused the feline significant suffering for 'at least a week and possibly significantly longer'.
In his expert report, he said: "The extent of ulceration, infection and areas of dying tissue were likely to be associated with significant pain. Early veterinary intervention could have been successful in treating the tumour.
"But such tumours often carry a poor prognosis, so euthanasia is often the best option before the lesion gets to a stage such as this to cause unnecessary suffering. In my opinion, allowing the ulceration to get to this extent, would have led to significant suffering for the cat."
In mitigation, the court was told that the defendant had said she 'bought different things from the shop' to try and treat Millie's wound at home.
Milne, of Lyndon Croft, Manchester Road, Oldham, admitted one offence of 'causing unnecessary suffering' under the Animal Welfare Act. On November 6, she was sentenced at Tameside Magistrates' Court.
As well as the pet ban, she was also handed a nine-month community order including 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days. She was fined £120, has to pay £400 in costs and surcharge of £114.
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