A man from Horwich failed to get vet treatment for his French bulldog which died after suffering with serious health problems.

French bulldog Jada was struggling to walk when an officer from the animal charity visited her owner’s home.

The canine was found to be suffering from several chronic and severe health conditions, which an expert vet said should have prompted her owner to seek veterinary care.

Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court was told RSPCA animal rescue officer (ARO) Jessica Pierce was extremely concerned for Jada when she attended Jermaine Henderson’s flat with a police dog handler on August 13 last year.

The dog was thin and dragging her hind limbs, while she was also suffering from urinary incontinence.

Henderson, 29, had taken the dog to a vet appointment at the Animal Trust on March 4 after she had suddenly lost the use of her back legs.

But then the dog was left without medical intervention, apart from oral pain relief, until the RSPCA visited his flat more than five months later.

ARO Pierce said in a statement presented to the court: “The defendant opened a door of a room to the front of the flat and I immediately got a smell of faeces and urine.

“Jada appeared visibly underweight with her ribs, hips and spine bones showing.

“She could not walk very well at all, and her back legs were crossing over and dragging behind her. 

“I asked her owner if she had been to the vet and he stated she had been to the Animal Trust, but he couldn’t remember when this was, although he confirmed she wasn’t currently under a vet.”

The officer took Jada to the Greater Manchester Animal Hospital (GMAH), where she received treatment.

But her prognosis was so poor because of her chronic health conditions that a vet decided that the kindest course of action was to put her to sleep to end her suffering.

A vet at the GMAH said in a statement presented to the court that a cervical intervertebral disc prolapse was considered as a diagnosis at the consultation in March.

She said that though the vet at that appointment offered further investigations, the owner declined on the grounds of cost.

“While Mr Henderson did present Jada to a vet due to her serious neurological condition, he subsequently failed to present her again when she did not rapidly return to normal, along with the other clinical concerns identified, particularly the ear disease,” she said.

A postmortem examination showed the dog was suffering with spinal cord compression with subsequent nerve loss contributing to muscle wastage in her back legs. She also had a severe infection and inflammation of her ear structures.

Henderson, of Cherry Tree Way, Horwich, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and appeared for sentencing on December 14.

He received a four-month custodial sentence suspended for 12 months and was disqualified from keeping animals for five years.

Magistrates also told Henderson to pay £400 court costs and a victim surcharge of £154.

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