A trainee solicitor who locked her pet dog in a kitchen and left it without food and water to suffer a ‘prolonged and painful’ death has been jailed for 18 weeks today.
Katy Gammon, 27, abandoned five-year-old boxer Roxy because she ‘couldn’t cope’, leaving the animal to spend six days clawing at the door until she went blind, slipped into a coma and died.
Horrific: Roxy the five-year-old boxer died a long, painful death after being locked in the kitchen by trainee medical negligence solicitor Katy Gammon, 27. She was only found when a neighbour saw swarms of flies
Roxy was not discovered until 10 weeks later, when neighbours reported a large amount of flies around the property and an ‘awful stench’.
Gammon was confronted by animal cruelty protesters, including her ex-boyfriend Adam Taylor, as she arrived at Bristol Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced today.
The solicitor, dressed in a black suit, remained emotionless in the dock as she was jailed for her ‘deliberate’ neglect of Roxy, having admitted animal cruelty charges.
Magistrate Rod Mayall, chair of the bench, told Gammon: ‘This was prolonged neglect of a dog where she was locked in a house and left to die of starvation and dehydration.
‘You have shown limited remorse. Although you were somewhat depressed, you failed to take up at least two offers of alternative housing for the dog. You failed to act as any normal person would.
‘This is the most serious incident of animal cruelty that we have encountered in these courts.’
Gammon was also banned from keeping animals for life.
Gammon had acquired Roxy while living with her boyfriend, Adam Taylor in December 2012.
The couple separated in April 2013 and Gammon kept Roxy, leaving her home alone during the day while she went to work.
Outrage: Several more congregated outside the court calling for stiffer sentences for those convicted of cruelty
Speaking outside court, Mr Taylor welcomed the sentence handed to his ex-girlfriend.
‘I am happy with the sentence but in my eyes it is not enough,’ he said.
‘For me, the life of a dog is just as much as a human life so there should be the same punishment.
‘I still can’t understand what she has done, I am still in shock.
‘When I knew her, she was a nice person who liked dogs. I just don’t know why she did it.’
A post-mortem examination found Roxy suffered a ‘prolonged and painful’ death over a six-day period.
RSPCA inspectors were forced to remove her remains from the kitchen floor with a snow shovel.
Roxy had shredded part of the kitchen door in an attempt to escape and emptied mops and buckets from cupboards to find water.
In August 2013, Gammon began staying with her mother who lived a few streets away in Bristol.
She returned each morning to feed Roxy but only walked her three times a week, otherwise leaving the dog confined to the kitchen.
However, in late August, Gammon dislocated her knee and did not visit the property for a week – meaning Roxy was completely unattended.
Ms Meyer said: ‘When anyone asked about Roxy, she lied and said her ex-boyfriend was looking after her.’
Neighbours called Avon and Somerset Police after spotting flies in the window of the property, and officers attended on November 3.
Ms Meyer said: ‘Officers gained entry to the property and noticed there were cobwebs in the door frame. It was obvious the property had not been entered for some time.
‘Roxy had been left with a plastic dog basket and one soiled sheet. She died on the hard lino.’
On entering the home, officers found a length of rope rigged between the kitchen door and hooks in the hallway to keep it closed.
Roxy’s remains were inside the kitchen and the court heard she would have experienced abdominal pain, muscle spasms, blindness, an irregular heart rhythm and kidney failure before death.
Gammon told police she had tried to get rid of Roxy by posting messages on Facebook but failed.
She later admitted she last saw Roxy on August 30 last year and did not return until a week later to an ‘awful smell’.
‘I didn’t go into the house, I assumed she was dead,’ Gammon told a RSPCA inspector. ‘I never went back.
‘I don’t know what you want me to say. I can’t change it. It’s horrific.’
Farah Rasid, representing Gammon, said her client had been ‘hounded’ by animal campaigners following Roxy’s death.
Gammon had been training as a solicitor and was awaiting her first post when Roxy was discovered – ending her career.
Ms Rasid said: ‘She is a young lady who is a prisoner in her own home. She is a young lady who has lost a career she was waiting to start.
‘She is her own critic of herself.’
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