Carmarthenshire man Ricky Harrison sentenced for animal cruelty

A Carmarthenshire man has been handed a suspended prison sentence and has been disqualified from keeping animals for life after one of his dogs died from starvation and another dog was found in an emaciated condition.

42-year-old Ricky James Kenneth Harrison, of Parc Puw, Drefach, Llandysul, appeared at Aberystwyth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, Septenber 9 for sentencing.

He had previously pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act. These were that he had caused unnecessary suffering to a male bull breed dog named Charlie, and also to a female bull breed dog named Suki by failing to adequately investigate and address their weight loss and poor body conditions.

Sadly Suki was found dead and her body was in an emaciated condition and Charlie was also emaciated after being left unattended, with a vet estimating a minimum length of suffering for the two dogs to be three weeks.

Harrison was sentenced to a one year prison sentence which was suspended for two years and was disqualified from keeping all animals for life. He was also handed a 24-month community order with 26 sessions of Building Better Choices Programme, 25 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days and a DIDAS intervention.

He was also ordered to pay an £187 surcharge and £400 costs. In mitigation it was heard that he had mental health issues at the relevant time and accepted the prosecution case.

The court heard that RSPCA Inspector Jemima Hanks-Martin attended on 14 November 2025 in response to a report regarding dogs that had been left unattended at the address.

There was no response and she was unable to open the letterbox fully as the dog inside the property jumped up and was pushing against it.

She said: “The blinds on the front window to the right hand side of the door were closed and it appeared to be dark inside.

“I checked the wooden side gate to the right hand side of the property but this was blocked from behind with a fallen fence panel and other belongings. I know from previous attendance that the dogs have had access to the rear garden, but I could not see them outside on this occasion. I could only hear the one dog behind the front door.”

As per the RSPCA’s abandonment procedure - as the charity does not have the power to enter - she placed seals on the door - which helps the RSPCA evidence if anyone is accessing the property. She also posted some welfare information and requested for the owner to make contact.

The court heard that Inspector Hanks-Martin had attended this same address previously in July 2025 for a separate report of the dogs being left unattended.

She said it was a “similar situation” however, she added about the July visit: “I witnessed the dogs over the fence, a brindle bullbreed dog and a black Staffordshire Bull Terrier type dog, both in the garden area of the property, they appeared to be alert, responsive and in an ideal body condition at this time.”

She posted information and requested contact from the owner, and placed tapes on the door and lock and that day the owner called the RSPCA and confirmed ownership of the dogs.

At the visit in November Inspector Hanks-Martin was able to call Harrison who “advised me a friend was going once a day to feed the dogs.”

She expressed her concerns and would return the following day to confirm that someone had tended to the dogs. The following day she attended (November 15) and the tapes placed on the front door were still intact and the side gate was still blocked.

She said: “I knocked at the door again, there was no reply, I could only hear the one dog behind the door. I wasn't able to see through the door due to the draft excluder and the dog jumping up against the letterbox inside.

“As I had concerns that no one had attended for at least 24 hours I pushed some wet dog food through the letterbox. I returned to my van to get some water to put through and when I returned to the property the dog had ripped the inside of the letterbox off of the door.

“This enabled me to see into the property. I observed what looked to be a dark coloured Staffordshire bull terrier type dog which appeared very underweight, its ribs, hips and spine were all visible. I poured the water through the letterbox and the dog was licking and eating the food and water behind the door.

“The environment inside the property appeared dirty and cluttered. I could only see one dog.”

She called the owner advising she needed to speak with him urgently regarding the condition of the dog seen.

She said: “I returned to the property to try and get a visual on the second dog reported, I could still only see the one dog. I put a second tin of wet dog food through the letterbox to try and tempt the second dog over to the door for a visual. Still only one dog remained visible.”

Harrison attended and confirmed there were two dogs in the property and told Inspector Hanks-Martin that he had “not seen the dogs for a week but that friend was meant to be attending”.

He first brought out three-year-old Charlie who was in an “emaciated condition” and had been the dog she had seen through the letterbox. She said: “He returned to the property to retrieve the second dog, he came back out shortly after crying and shaking his head, he said ‘she's gone’ and told me the dog had passed away.

“Mr Harrison came out with a deceased black and white, female, Staffordshire Bull Terrier dog named Suki, which Mr Harrison confirmed to be 12 years old.”

“She appeared to be in an emaciated condition with her bones prominently showing.”

Charlie was hospitalised due to his poor condition and was later released on a feedplan in order for him to regain weight.

Following rehabilitation Charlie made a full recovery and was re-homed by RSPCA Llys Nini Branch in February this year.

In a written statement from the vet who examined both Charlie and Suki they said that Charlie was given a body condition score of one out of nine, with four and five out of nine being normal, lower being thin and above being overweight.

The vet said they had concerns regarding Charlie's body condition and given his history of possibly being without food for several days to weeks, they decided to run bloods to check Charlies’ basic metabolic profile.

The report said: “The blood results showed slightly high urea, which can be an indicator of dehydration, and low calcium but were otherwise unremarkable.”

Suki was given a body condition score of one out of 9. The vet said: “It was difficult to say from the examination what length of time had elapsed since Suki had passed away, but I suspect around 24 to 48 hours.

“There was nothing obvious on the clinical examination indicating her cause of death other than her poor body condition. I noted a small mass on her tail base, and evidence of bloody diarrhoea.”

Following a post mortem report the vet said: “Referring to the findings in the report I believe that this supports the mechanism of suffering for Suki as starvation and confirms this to be the cause of death.

“The report notes the presence of Wischnewsky spots, which are usually seen in animals in a very poor state of nutrition and are also associated with stress and hypothermia (this could be either environmentally or in cases such as this because the body is so run down it cannot maintain body temperature).

“Given the condition in which the dogs were found, I do not believe the suffering was short lived. The post-mortem on Suki confirms no continuous feeding for at least 48 to 57 hours due to a complete absence of gastrointestinal content.

“The presence of non-edible material shows Suki was physically able to eat and had an appetite, but no nutritious food was available.

“While Charlie was hospitalised with us he proved to have a good appetite also. Crucially, neither the post-mortem of Suki nor the clinical exam of Charlie showed any gross evidence of an underlying condition that could explain their poor condition. Given the findings I estimate a minimum length of suffering for Charlie and Suki to be three weeks.”

Following sentencing Inspector Hanks-Martin said: “It is heartbreaking to imagine what Suki and Charlie may have gone through.

“Although it was too late for Suki, thankfully Charlie recovered fully and has been happily rehomed.

“All animals deserve to be treated with kindness and should have their needs met. Anyone who is struggling should seek help.”