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Headline: RAW VIDEO: Horrifically hurt and dying, final moments of Tallulah the spaniel caught on camera as owner is banned from keeping dogs for 10 years
Caption: A woman has been banned from keeping dogs and cats for 10 years after her young, healthy spaniel died following “mystery injuries”. Della Page, 31, of Purley Way, Pangbourne, was also given a 16-month jail term, suspended for 18 months. Reading Magistrates’ Court was told that spaniel Tallulah died within minutes of the defendant taking her to a vet’s surgery with blood coming from her mouth and rear end. Examinations revealed she had suffered a rib fracture and internal bleeding “indicative of a severe trauma to the abdomen” – but the cause of the injuries was not established. The court was shown CCTV clips from the surgery that showed Tallulah’s final minutes as the defendant brought her in, wrapped in a blanket. Page – who called Tallulah “her baby” – admitted failing to ensure the pet’s needs were met, contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006. She failed to do one or a combination of protecting her from pain, suffering and injury, getting treatment for a rib injury and exercising appropriate care and supervision to protect her. At a sentencing hearing on October 23, magistrates also ordered Page to pay £400 costs and a £154 victim surcharge, and carry out ten Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days. A vet’s report to the court said Page took Tallulah to the surgery in November last year after making an appointment for a “general health check” 30 minutes earlier. The slot was booked with “no sense of urgency” and the defendant arrived with Tallulah wrapped in a blanket. “The dog looked really unwell and extremely lethargic if not unconscious,” the report said. “We went into the consultation room and she put the dog on the table and said to me ‘I think my dog is dead’.” Tallulah was taken into the surgery and after the vets performed CPR, they noticed clotted blood at the back of her tongue and bloody fluid from her rear end. The device which measures heart rate and oxygen levels gave no reading and the vet noticed “agonal gasping” which comes shortly after death. Page later mentioned that Tallulah was “a bit wobbly” that morning – but when offered a post mortem examination to investigate her death, she said she “preferred to believe it was a heart attack”. The vet added: “This incident appeared unusual because Tallulah had only been three years eight months and appeared to be in normal, healthy condition.” The report said it appeared Tallulah suffered some “severe trauma to the abdomen”, causing haemoabdomen. She also had a fractured rib – the vet report said they could not rule out that this was possibly caused by the CPR but the other injuries happened prior to the visit. RSPCA inspector Malwina Gasiorek said in a statement to the court that the defendant told her Tallulah had been sick the night before her death but seemed to recover. In mitigation, it was said that Page is a single mother of five and there is no suggestion that she was “responsible for any injuries and that she loves dogs”. After sentencing, RSPCA inspector Simon Hoggett said: “Our investigation found that Tallulah suffered some awful injuries. “Although we don’t know exactly how they were inflicted, we do know they caused severe suffering and resulted in her sad and premature death. “No animal should have to fall victim to this kind of treatment. “The variety and extent of the injuries were dreadful. “I’m just happy that Tallulah has received some kind of justice with the prosecution and court’s decision to impose a long disqualification on her owner.”
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