Convicted for having a fat dog

Two brothers have become the first people in the country to be convicted for having a dog which was too fat.

David and Derek Benton were found guilty of animal cruelty for allowing their labrador Rusty to balloon to more than 11 and a half stone - double the weight he should have been.

They had denied causing unnecessary suffering to the “morbidly obese” 10-year-old, chocolate-coloured lab but were convicted by magistrates in Ely, Cambridgeshire. While they were each ordered to pay £250 towards the cost of the RSPCA prosecution, they were given conditional discharges and permission to have Rusty returned to them.

Magistrates were told that the dog had suffered hip problems since he was 18-months-old, which had left him arthritic, unable to exercise properly and, consequently, prone to putting on weight.
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David Benton, 52, and saddler Derek, 63, said that they had tried in vain to make him lose weight, but were unable to get him to stick to a diet at their home in Fordham, near Soham, Cambs. They told the court that they only fed him a small bowl of dried food in the morning, a larger one in the evening and a bone as a treat on Saturdays.

Since being seized by the RSPCA in March, Rusty has lost three and a half stone after being put on a low calorie diet and given painkillers drugs costing £3,000.

Bryant Watson, the presiding magistrate, said that the brothers had been advised on several occasions about Rusty’s weight and ordered that, henceforth, their care of the dog should be supervised by the RSPCA. “We want to ensure that Rusty receives an appropriate diet and he is not allowed to gain the weight he has lost. We hope he has a long and satisfactory life,” said the magistrate.

After the case, David Benton said: “I am dumbfounded that this case was brought to court in the first place but I am delighted that we will be getting Rusty home. We love him to bits. It is brilliant that he will be able to come back. I have kept dogs all my life and everyone in our village has been really supportive of us.”

Ann-Marie Gregory, defending, described Rusty as a “happy and content” dog who had been part of the brothers’ household virtually all his life. She said: “This is not a case of wanton and malicious cruelty. It is miles away from that. They loved this dog and, maybe, loved it too much.”

She said that press coverage of the case had led to her office receiving calls from other pet owners worried that they might now be prosecuted for having overweight pets. “There are people up and down the country who are worried to death because their cat or rabbit is a couple of pounds overweight,” she said.