Carlow woman forbidden from ever owning animals
A Jack Russell named Jack was found in an emaciated state
A TULLOW woman has been given a suspended prison sentence and is now forbidden from ever owning animals again after she was sentenced last week at Carlow District Court on animal cruelty charges.
Judge Geraldine Carthy had heard harrowing evidence at a previous sitting of the case against Seeta O’Neill of 8 Maple Court, Tullow, who had pleaded guilty to eight charges under section 12(1)(a) of the Animal Health and Welfare Act, 2013.
On finalising the case last week and sentencing Ms O’Neill, Judge Carthy said that it was “one of the more serious neglect cases” that she had ever had to deal with.
She also mentioned the “horrendous suffering by the animals” when the ISPCA senior inspector Fiona Conlon discovered one dog dead and two others severely malnourished when she called to her house in February last year.
Judge Carthy not only banned Ms O’Neill from ever having any other animals in her care, she also extended the ban to anyone else sharing the same house as her. She sentenced Ms O’Neill to five months’ imprisonment but suspended it for 18 months on the basis that Ms Neill gets assistance from the probation service, while she had previously ordered her to pay €793.60 for care costs and €1,500 plus VAT for prosecution costs to the ISPCA.
Full evidence of the case had been heard in April this year in which Insp Conlon gave a full account of what she found in Ms O’Neill’s house when she called. She told the court that she discovered three dogs – one deceased and two in a critical condition.
The deceased dog, Bella, described as “a tiny little Yorkshire Terrier,” was found in an enclosure behind the house.
An autopsy conducted at Vetcare in Athy revealed Bella weighed just 0.8kg – well below the minimum healthy weight of 2.5kg for her breed. The veterinary report noted ‘severe muscle wastage,’ ‘eyes matted shut’ and that Bella was ‘pathologically underweight,’ showing ‘signs of being neglected’ with ‘malnourishment a possible likely factor’ in her death.
The two surviving dogs, a Jack Russell named Jack and a Yorkshire Terrier named Sasha, were found in an emaciated state. Sasha weighed only 1.5kg when she should have weighed at least 3kg and had no teeth, while Jack was described by inspector Conlan as “so emaciated I could count the vertebrae on his spine” with severely swollen anal glands and rotting teeth. Both animals “stank of urine,” according to the inspector.
It was, according to senior inspector Conlan, a case of “pure neglect” and “lack of care,” adding that, from what she saw, the dogs were “left to die.” In a statement given to the gardaí, Ms O’Neill said that she took full responsibility for what happened to her dogs but said that a series of events occurred around Christmas 2023 that led to a breakdown in routine, which led to the dogs being neglected.
Solicitor Chris Hogan outlined the events that his client had gone through at the time, including the breakdown of an eight-year relationship that had “turned violent,” mental health issues, coping as a single parent and living on part-time income.
Last week at the sentence hearing, Mr Hogan assured inspector Conlon that she would not find any animals in Ms O’Neill’s house if she ever called there to inspect it again.
