Shropshire gamekeeper who neglected 'shockingly thin' dog avoids ban
A gamekeeper who neglected one of his dogs has been given a community order but avoided a ban after demonstrating his remorse to magistrates.
Jamie Chapman Cole, 22, had his cocker spaniel Blue taken away from him in February this year to be treated for malnutrition and neglect, which a vet estimated had lasted three to four weeks.
Cole has since moved away from Shropshire and begun retraining, Telford Magistrates Court heard in a hearing on Monday.
The gamekeeper, who was based at a farm near Minsterley, took Blue to the Malthouse Veterinary Group in Shrewsbury complaining of diarrhoea at about 10am on February 4.
Vets there found the 10-month-old dog with sunken eyes, a low body temperature, weighing only 6kgs and unable to stand on her own for long.
RSPCA prosecutor Roger Price told the court that a healthy body temperature for dogs would be between 38 degrees and 39.2 and the vet who assessed Blue used a thermometer that would only go as low as 32, which indicated that her temperature was at or below that threshold.
