Court bans cruel West Yorkshire woman from keeping animals after starving pet rabbit to death

Jackie Priestley, 56, from Haynes Street in Keighley, was found guilty of three animal welfare offences following a prosecution by the RSPCA. She was sentenced at Bradford Magistrates Court on March 2.

The court heard that when an RSPCA officer visited the defendant’s home in November 2021 to discuss another matter, he found two emaciated rabbits - one dead and one barely alive - in a cage in the living room. The condition of the live rabbit was so critical that when examined by vets, they decided that the kindest option was to put the animal to sleep.

RSPCA inspector Adam Dickinson said: “When I visited the defendant’s home, there was a tan-coloured lop-type rabbit laid out on its side in the hutch, which appeared to be dead. Another similar-looking rabbit was sitting up, still alive, but very emaciated."

He said that the animals were living in “totally unsuitable conditions” as the water bottle in the hutch was “slightly green with algae” and only had a few millilitres of water in.

He added: “The hutch itself was littered with rabbit faeces, with soiled areas and new sawdust spread over the old, used sawdust. No hay was visible in the cage and the bed area was completely empty, apart from more sawdust and faeces. There was a small plastic bowl on top of the platform that was empty and the only food items that could be seen were remnants of lettuce.”Sadly, while one of the two rabbits was still alive, vets recommended the animal be put to sleep given its ‘”very poor condition”.

Inspector Dickinson continued: “I could clearly feel the vertebrae and ribs. I had expected the rabbit to at least be difficult to catch, or jump and move, but there was no reaction when I picked it up - which caused me further concern. The defendant signed the live rabbit into the care of the RSPCA and gave permission for me to remove the dead rabbit as she did not want to deal with a dead body.”

Following post-mortems on both rabbits, a report found that both rabbits were emaciated, showing evidence of long term malnutrition which was observed as muscle wastage, a lack of fat tissue and serous atrophy of the bone marrow. He concluded that In the absence of underlying disease these clinical signs were explained by a lack of suitable diet for a prolonged period.

Inspector Dickinson said: “Pets are completely reliant on their owners to ensure their needs are met and that they are kept safe and healthy. Owning an animal is a privilege - and meeting their needs and ensuring appropriate veterinary care is a key part of the responsibility. It’s so sad that, in this instance, that responsibility was not met and ended in death.”

As well as the ban on keeping caged animals, Priestley was handed a 12 month Community Order requiring 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and ordered to pay costs of £200 and a victim surcharge of £95.

For advice on caring for a pet, please visit the RSPCA’s website.