A BIRKENHEAD pensioner whose young sheep had to be put to sleep after she failed to seek veterinary care faced Wirral magistrates.

Patricia Wallwork, 65, of Palm Grove denied a charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

The RSPCA said the sheep "was effectively being eaten alive by maggots."

The court heard her young ram, which was kept at a field near Birkenhead Road in Meols, was found in a very poor condition on July 23 last year.

It had a serious case of flystrike- a condition where flies lay their eggs on animals then maggots are hatched and begin eating the flesh.

Wallwork, a retired teacher, had called farmer Alex Smith, who has between 200 and 400 of his own sheep, to shear her animal.

After she insisted he came that same day, it became clear something was wrong.

Mr Smith said: “She told me if I waited until the next day there may only be four instead of the five sheep.

“That statement played on my mind, and I agreed to go and visit her that day.

“When I arrived I could only see four of her sheep at first. The infected sheep was lying down in a barn so I helped him stand up.

"When I touched him a clump of wool came away in my hand.”

He added in the 50 years he has been looking after sheep, this was the worst case of flystrike he had seen.

“I’ve seen sheep that were dead in a better condition, with injuries not as bad as that one had.”

“As I started shearing it, it became apparent that there were large holes in the sheep."

Mr Smith then alerted the RSPCA.

Wirral Globe:

The one-year-old ram was put to sleep due to the severity of its injuries

Wallwork claimed she was in the process of treating the flystrike, and believed the one-year-sheep needed to be sheared in order for the treatment to work.

She explained she didn’t believe a vet was needed at that stage as they would only provide the same treatment.

Dr Emma Fisbourne, who was called by the RSPCA to examine the animal at the scene, told how the sheep had gaping holes in its body and that maggots has eaten through three layers of skin and muscle.

She said: “There is no reason to suggest the owner would not have known the sheep was sick.

“There is no excuse to not seek veterinary treatment.”

Wallwork had been in Tenerife, helping her daughter, a week before the incident and only on her return she admits she realised something was wrong.

“I had hope that the sheep was getting better and had planned to check up on him the next morning to see if further improvement had been made.

“If there had been no change I would have considered calling the vet, but when I left her I believed the animal was improving.”

District judge Michael Abelson sentenced Wallwork to three months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered her to pay £1,260 in costs.

He dismissed any need to disqualify her from keeping animals, due to no further incidents of a similar nature being reported in the twelve months that had passed.

He said: “It is clear you knew about this flystrike but did not do anything about it.

“That makes you absolutely guilty of this charge.”

He also dismissed a second charge of not provide adequate food and water for her sheep.

Speaking after the trial, RSPCA Inspector Anthony Joynes said: “This was an entirely avoidable case.

“This young ram was clearly suffering from a serious example of fly strike and had been for least a number of days.

“He was effectively being eaten alive by maggots, that had in some areas burrowed almost to the bone and therefore quite obviously needed emergency veterinary care.

“His owner failed to provide this care which not only led to him suffering unnecessarily but ultimately also led to these proceedings.

“There is a legal duty of care placed on people who are responsible for animals to provide prompt and necessary veterinary care for their animals when it is needed.

“This sheep may well have still been alive with better husbandry and if a vet had been called out by the owner much sooner.”