October 2026

Young dog wasted away after being starved of food for months

A young dog wasted away after being starved of food for months — but her remorseless owner received just a suspended prison sentence.

Joshua Allan Owen, 23, of Albert Road, Saltash, admitted two animal welfare offences involving his two-year-old XL bully, Hazel.

By the time she reached a veterinary practice, Hazel was dead. She had lost 43 per cent of her body weight since her previous visit four months earlier.

The dog was described as severely emaciated, with ribs standing out sharply beneath her skin, a deeply sunken abdomen and very little visible muscle or body fat. Her hips and shoulders were prominent, and her limbs looked painfully thin.

Hazel would of been in extreme pain in her final days.

A post‑mortem examination revealed catastrophic neglect and starvation.

Hazel had total muscle wastage, no fat reserves anywhere on her body or organs, stomach ulcers causing internal bleeding, a heavy flea burden, dehydration and enlarged adrenal glands indicating prolonged stress and long‑term undernutrition.

No natural illness explained her condition.

The veterinary report concluded: “This dog died as a result of a lack of access to food over a long period of time.”

At Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on October 14, Owen received 18 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for one year, for inadequate food and water, plus a further 12-week suspended sentence for failing to protect Hazel from suffering.

Owen was banned from keeping animals for ten years, cannot seek to lift that ban for five years, and must pay a £140 surcharge.