An evil brother and sister who let eight puppies starve to death in their family’s kitchen have been banned from keeping animals for life.
Shocking pictures of the dogs’s remains, including two puppies SKULLS, were released by the RSPCA after they raided the home of Damon Hessin, 22, and sister Hazil, 18.
The pair had left the animals, which were around six-months old, to starve to death in a downstairs room in their home in Melton Mowbray, Leics.
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They admitted causing suffering to eight dogs and were both slapped with suspended sentences when they appeared at Leicester Magistrates Court last Friday.
Damon was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.
Meanwhile Hazil was given an eight week sentence suspended for six months and ordered to attend a 10-day training course.
Both were ordered to pay £180 court costs and a £80 victim surcharge.
The court heard RSPCA officers raided their rented £120,000 home in Wren Close, Melton Mowbray, on May 1 after a tip-off from the family’s landlady.
It emerged that the Hessin family barricaded the eight puppies in the kitchen because they were biting them.
Shockingly, the desperate animals were also forced to EAT each other in a bid to survive.
Warped mum Sam Hessin, 39, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the litter of dogs.
Prosecutor Kevin McCole told Leicester Magistrates Court: “The defendant said she was sorry, she didn’t know what else to do and was crying.
“When asked if there were any dead dogs in the house, she nodded her head.
“The smell was almost unbearable, with dog faeces several inches thick.
“It was likely the place had not been cleaned for months or even years.
“It was clear the puppies had suffered and would have been obvious they were unwell and needed help.
“The defendant failed to meet their needs and we cannot say how long it took for them to die.
“The life of some might have been extended by eating the others.”
Neighbours blasted the sentence as “too soft” and revealed they often heard the sound of dogs howling in agony during the night.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said: “That family should be in jail now, not allowed to swan about like nothing happened.
“It’s just awful how they put those poor dogs through such torture. People often heard the animals crying in the evenings but no one believed it was because they were dying.
“A friend of mine saw the RSPCA officers come out of the house when they raided it and there were grown men in tears at the state of the place.
“Their sentence was soft. They got away with it.”
Investigators were shocked to find the rotting remains of the dogs in the kitchen which had been kept out-of-bounds by the family.
When RSPCA inspector Deb Scotcher entered the kitchen she found six Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppies dead on the kitchen floor and further investigation led to the discovery of two puppy skulls.
Prosecutor Kevin McCole told JPs: “When the inspector walked into the kitchen the smell was rancid and putrid, to her horror she saw the puppies were in advanced stages of decomposition, on a urine stained bed.
“Dog faeces was several inches thick and everything in the kitchen was in a total state of disarray.
“The vet estimated the puppies would have been about six months old when they died.
“The sight and smell of them was shocking and deeply distressing.”
The court heard the siblings’ mother Sam Hessin, 40, banned her children from entering the kitchen and the family used the living room to cook their meals which they ate while their pets starved to death.
She had previously been given an 18 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, when she appeared at court last month.
Roger Wood, chairman of the magistrates’ bench, said: “Had this been a trial you would both be going to prison.”
Speaking after the case, RSPCA inspector Deborah Scotcher said: “The sentence was very appropriate, it was a harrowing case, the worst one I’ve seen, I’ll never forget it.”
How those poor dogs must have suffered. These disgusting excuses for humans should have received a long prison sentence.
In america, a man could be spending the rest of his life in prison for what he did to ‘puppy doe’ why on earth can’t we do the same?! Its ridiculous these people are monsters. I only hope their neighbours take matters into their own hands and batter them, I know I would, scum.