Maddie’s final walk was caught on camera. The elderly terrier was stuffed into a bin liner and her owners, Terrence and Sadie Boyd, were carrying her to a canal at Clitheroe Road in Brierfield, Lancashire – to get rid of her on 27 August last year. A dog walker spotted the couple discarding the dog, but when they confronted the pair was told the bag only contained clothes. But, then it moved, and Maddie’s head appeared. A member of the public jumped into the canal to save the pooch, who was eventually rescued by the fire service and rushed to a local vet. Maddie’s microchip led police to the Boyles where seven underweight kittens were also taken die to “welfare concerns”. A court was told the house was “unsanitary with large piles of pet faeces seen upstairs and mice running around the kitchen”. Although Maddie survived the canal, her condition deteriorated at the vets, and she was put to sleep to “prevent further suffering” on 29 August. Maddie has severe dental disease and multiple puncture wounds to her neck and appeared to “be really struggling to walk and starting to display more abnormal neurological symptoms”, a court was told. The couple were sentenced to eight weeks jail, suspended for 12 months, and were banned from keeping animals for ten years. They admitted two Animal Welfare Act offences in relation to Maddie, plus seven kittens and a corn snake. Speaking after sentencing RSPCA Chief Inspector Nix said: “What happened to Maddie was horrifying and this incident was understandably the cause of great distress to people who were at the scene, the emergency services and the wider local community.” #5news #dogs #lancashire - @c5news