A woman has been banned from keeping dogs after she killed her pet Shih Tzu – because it was constipated.
Sandra Walker, 52, smothered the female puppy because it was in pain with stomach problems.
The four-week-old pooch was whimpering in agony but instead of taking her to a vet Walker suffocated her with a pillow, a court heard.
Walker, of Plymouth, Devon, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal between April 25 and April 30 this year.
The offence took place at her former home in Bulwell, Nottingham, Plymouth Magistrates Court heard.
John Wyatt, for the RSPCA, said an inspector visited her following a complaint about four puppies.
Three were found bloated at the property but when asked about a fourth she admitted it had died the previous night.
The dog’s body was exhumed from where it had been buried in the back garden and a post-mortem examination showed it had been suffocated.
Andrea Parsons, for Walker, said: ”She felt as if she did what she did at the time purely to relieve the dog from its suffering.”
Magistrates banned her from keeping animals for two years. She was ordered to pay #1,000 costs.
