Max suffered for more than a year with a tumour
A man has been banned from keeping animals for five years after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to a dog with a "horrifying tumour".
Kenneth Nigel Mackenzie, from Calne in Wiltshire, failed to get any medical help for Max, his sick West Highland terrier.
Swindon magistrates heard the dog had been suffering for more than a year when he was found by RSPCA inspectors.
The RSPCA said the benign tumour had been removed and Max had been rehomed.
The nine-year-old terrier was found in a "terrible state" in the defendant's house by RSPCA inspector Miranda Albinson and was immediately taken into care.
'Gruesome and shocking'
"Not only was his tumour gruesome and shocking - it was like something out of a horror film - but the poor boy was dirty and emaciated," she said.
"He [Max] barely even had the enthusiasm to respond to me. I dread to think of how much he must have suffered."
Interviewed by RSPCA officers, Mackenzie, 54, admitted he knew the dog was in pain but had never taken the terrier to see a vet for treatment.
He said he had hoped every morning he would find the dog had died peacefully in its sleep, and it was a relief it was now out of the house.
In December, Mackenzie pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and was convicted.
In addition to a five-year ban from keeping any animals, he was also given a 12-month community order with 180 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay costs of £300.
