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Date: 06 Aug 2024
Ms Toni O’Neil of Strathroy Park, Belfast has been convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a cat at her address in Belfast on 25 June 2024.
At Belfast Magistrates Court today, 6 August 2024, Ms O’Neil (age 34) was sentenced following her conviction for causing unnecessary suffering to a cat.
Belfast City Council took the prosecution after it has received complaints that a cat had been left at the property unattended for a number of days. Animal Welfare Officers entered the property under warrant and seized an underweight cat which had been unattended for a period of at least 72 hours without proper access to food and water. Council Officers removed the cat from the premises for examination by a veterinarian who determined that the cat suffered from malnutrition.
Ms O’Neil was handed a four month prison sentence suspended for one year for failing to ensure the welfare of the cat under section 4 of the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 Ms O’Neil was also ordered to pay legal and other costs totalling £181 and disqualified from owning animals for a period of two years.