Beethoven's story

Beethoven was lucky to survive his terrible ordeal. Malnourished and neglected he was discovered by one of our courageous inspectors in a true house of horrors.
 

Pets left to die in house of horror

A Wolverhampton man was jailed for 20 weeks in September 2011 after five of his parents’ animals died while in his care.

 

The man’s parents left him in charge of their six animals when they went to visit family. He was sent money to pay for their food and care, but allowed a dog, two cats, a hamster and a rat to die from starvation.  

All of the animals died from heart failure caused by chronic malnutrition and emaciation.

Beethoven's fantastic recovery

The only animal to survive was a dog named Beethoven who had only survived by eating part of the dead cats’ bodies.

RSPCA Inspector Jayne Bashford described the scene at the property as 'truly horrific and disturbing'.

Particularly disturbing to me were the scratch marks on the rear of the kitchen door where Buster had desperately tried to escape before he was found dead in his bed.

Beethoven was rehomed after gaining 37 per cent of his body weight in the first seven weeks that he was with us.

 

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Your support

Without your support we would not be able to investigate and prosecute in cases like this.

There are many ways you can support us, including making a donation to help make sure we're always on hand to rescue animals like Beethoven.

If you're concerned about the welfare of an animal, please call the RSPCA 24-hour cruelty line:

0300 1234 999.

We can't do it without you. Thank you for your support.
 

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