A woman who left her pet dog to die alone in a squalid house ran from Liverpool Magistrates’ Court after her jail term was suspended. Stephanie Murphy, 35, admitted starving her Boxer to death, after leaving the dog in her house in West Derby. Murphy appeared at Liverpool Magistrates Court on March 10, where she pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
The dog, said to be a family pet, was found dead on September 20, 2023. Police attended mum-of-two Murphy’s home after a call was made from her daughters’ school. The school raised concerns that neither of her girls had attended school for two days. Prosecutor Tara Thomas said: “Police attended and found the deceased dog in the hallway. No persons were located inside. The deceased dog was located; he was extremely thin and was not breathing.”
Stephanie Murphy puts her hood over her head as she leaves Liverpool Crown Court (Image: Liverpool Echo)
The prosecutor added that a post-mortem revealed the Boxer had been starved to death. A police officer who attended the scene said the house was “in bad upkeep” and that the dog bowl was empty.
Murphy said in her police interview that she did not intend to cause harm to the animal. When asked if she knew the dog would die when she abandoned it, she said: “Yes, but it wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t on purpose.”
Defence counsel Georgia Maudsley said: “At the time of the offence, she said she suffered a mental breakdown. She suffered from bereavements in her family, her relationship broke down.
“She felt fearful to be in her own home and fled to her mother’s address, and her mother did not want the dog in her home.”
She added: “Her poor mental health at the time has clearly impacted her thinking skills. She states she was simply existing at the time and not thinking due to her poor mental health. The home was very unkempt and unclean and it shows how her mental state was at the time.”
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Stephanie Murphy runs from Liverpool Magistrates’ Court (Image: Echo)
Judge Paul Healey said: “It must have taken days, weeks, for the dog to become emaciated and eventually die. The dog died as a result of the neglect caused by you. It went on for a period of weeks where you could have taken action to alleviate the suffering of the dog, but you chose not to.
“Sadly you have lost family members, your relationship had come to an end, and the events of your personal life led to you losing the ability to live life as you normally would do and provide for the dog’s needs.
“I accept at the time you were suffering from your mental health, but I struggle to understand why that prevented you from simply picking up a phone to get some help. You had every opportunity to speak to the RSPCA or somebody to say you were struggling to look after the dog, but you didn’t do so.”
Murphy was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and she was ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work. The judge also banned her from owning animals for six years. Murphy, who wept throughout the hearing, sprinted out of the court building with the hood of her coat up.