Dog sitter handed suspended sentence after French bulldogs die in car

A Bridgend dog sitter has been handed a 16-week suspended prison sentence after two dogs she was pet-sitting were found dead in a car on a hot day.

Janine Maloney was sentenced on 6 February, after previously pleading guilty on the day of the trial to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act.

The dogs, Lila and Phab, were found dead in an unattended vehicle that had been in the care of Maloney, who ran a commercial dog walking and pet-sitting business named Pet Patrol Club.

The 16-week prison sentence was suspended for two years; she was also handed a 15-day Rehabilitation Activity requirement and a six-month alcohol programme. Furthermore, she was ordered to pay £500 costs, and £500 compensation and was disqualified from keeping dogs for five years. This order has been suspended for three months to allow her to rehome her own dogs.

In a written statement from RSPCA deputy chief inspector (DCI) Gemma Black, said she met with the owner of the two dogs who was “very emotional about what had happened.”

DCI Black added: “She told me she had paid a lady known to her as Janine Maloney of a company called Pet Patrol to look after her dogs for her from September 3rd until the 5th.

“She told me that Ms Malone had returned to her address on Sunday the 5th of September 2021 with the dogs dead. She told me that Ms Malone claimed to have left them in the car during the Sunday, during hot weather and she believed this was how they died.”

In written evidence, a vet noted: “The evidence indicates that the two dogs had been left in the car without any access to water, with none of the car windows open and no air conditioning active.

“The post-mortem evidence showed that both dogs were found to have pathology changes consistent with having died via a mechanism of heat stroke/stress, having a number of haemorrhagic areas in the body.

“Both dogs were French Bulldogs having a shortened nose anatomy (brachycephalic) that had also been affected by Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS). They were also both overweight which likely contributed to their susceptibility to heat stress.”

The owner of the two dogs – who had cared for them since they were eight weeks old – said: “It has been horrendous. I have nightmares about what they would have gone through. I trusted this person.

“I just don’t want other people and animals to go through this. I would like to thank the RSPCA for all their support and I would also like to thank the community for their support as well.”

She added that Lila and Phab – who were four-years-old – were her “soul companions”. It had been the first time she had left them with anyone.