Couple couldn’t afford to feed pets

DRASTICALLY underweight . . . Rosie

A COUPLE who failed to feed their dogs properly have been banned for keeping animals for five years.

Joanne and Byron Paulovsky pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to two labrador crosses found with protruding bones and covered in fleas.

The two-year-old bitches were handed to an RSPCA inspector at their home at St Mary’s Street, Oldham in July.

Mr Mark Harper, prosecuting, told Oldham magistrates yesterday the dogs - Maisie and Rosie - were very thin. Rosie should have weighed 40lbs but was little over half that. The bones of her pelvis, ribs and spine were clearly visible.

Maisie weighed just over 19lbs against an expected 33lbs, and was in a similar condition. A vet estimated the dogs had suffered for at least a month.

The court was told that Mr Paulovsky (42) was unemployed and his 40-year-old wife had chronic asthma and was undergoing tests for cancer.

Mr John Wright, defending, said: “Money was an issue. The couple are simply making what they have got stretch among a family of six. It’s hard enough without two hungry dogs.”

The couple were given a three-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £855 compensation to the RSPCA

Both dogs have been rehomed.