Chewed up toothbrushes in stomach of starved dog after RSPCA find body wrapped in old duvet

Video (click to play above) shows the upsetting moment when an RSPCA officer discovered the body of Shar Pei cross, Bella, hidden under a pile of blankets in the home where she had lived.

Cheney Ruby Roach, the owner of the starved dog, told RSPCA staff that she had been staying with a friend for a few months, returning every other day to feed Bella, who she had found dead a week or two before her body was found on 18 December.

Dog left to starve for over two weeks

A vet statement, included as part of the case, showed Bella weighed just 8.3kg and she was given a body condition score of 1/9. Chewed up toothbrushes were found in her stomach. The statement said Bella had likely experienced ‘frustration, boredom, helplessness, loneliness, anxiety and fear’ during the period of time she was abandoned in the family home, and estimated that Bella had been left to starve for at least two weeks. 

The vet added: “There was a lack of food in the gastrointestinal tract and foreign material present suggests the dog experienced hunger and resorted to pica (ingesting non-foodstuffs) to try to satisfy this feeling of hunger.”

RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer (ARO) Ross Allan first visited Roach’s house on 13 December 2023 but had no answer when he knocked on the door, and couldn’t see any dogs in the property. 

Body wrapped in a duvet in the cupboard

He said: “I did see signs that a dog had been there, such as discarded dog food tins and toys laying in the bin and in the front garden. I also saw a 2ft square hole in the front garden. I sealed the front and back door and posted a contact note asking the occupant to contact us.”

He spoke to neighbours and they said they’d not seen a dog or the family for some time, so he contacted the caller for more information.  

ARO Allan returned to the property five days later to check the seals and found they’d not been broken so he contacted the police for help to get inside. During a search of the house, Ross found the body of Bella wrapped in a Spiderman duvet in a cupboard. 

‘Strong smell of ammonia’

ARO Allan added: “In the kitchen there was an empty dog food wrapper, an empty bowl and a strong smell of ammonia. In the front room was a shovel with dirt on it, propped up next where I found the body.”

Unnecessary suffering to dog

Cheney Ruby Roach (DoB: 25/02/1988) of Alford Avenue, Withington, Greater Manchester, appeared at Manchester Magistrates’ Court (Crown Square) on Wednesday (14 August) where she was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 15 rehabilitation requirement activity days and 220 hours of unpaid work. 

She was also disqualified from keeping all animals for five years and ordered to pay £600 in costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

Roach pleaded guilty to two offences*, under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, of causing unnecessary suffering to her dog, Bella, and failing to meet her needs. In mitigation, the court heard Roach had had problems at home and couldn’t face going back to her property, and that she’d been struggling with alcohol at the time of Bella’s death.