DOG owner Anthony Green has been banned from keeping animals for five years after being convicted of cruelty to his pet.

Magistrates in Bury were told how weeks, possibly months of neglect ended with family dog Max being tied to a bush on a busy road and abandoned.

When RSPCA officials were called out to the cross collie, left on Manchester Road, Ramsbottom, they found it was suffering horribly from a skin complaint.

This had resulted in most of its fur falling out and left large, infected sores.

However, Green, of Woodside Crescent, Newchurch-in-Rossendale, who was tracked down after newspaper articles led to any anonymous phone call to the RSPCA, said he had never meant the animal any harm.

Jeremy Frain, prosecuting, described how Max was found tied to a hawthorn bush, close to Lower Park Farm.

A vet who looked at the two-year-old said that it had been caused unnecessary suffering by neglect over a long period of time, caused by a skin condition.

Later, after being tracked down, Green was interviewed by the RSPCA and said that he had not been able to afford treatment for the complaint which had first occurred 15 months prior to the abandonment.

He claimed that the drastic fur loss had only occurred in the three weeks prior to him getting rid of Max.

He said: "I was doing the best for the dog. I tied it up for someone to find it."

In court Green pleaded guilty to causing Max unnecessary suffering. He said: "I would like to apologise for the trouble and upset I have caused. It will never happen again."

Thankfully, as a result of the care he received once he had been found, Max has since been restored to full health and has begun a happy life with new owners.

In addition to the five-year ban on keeping all animals, Green was given 40 hours community service, ordered to pay vet bills of £101.94 and court costs of £100.

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