VICTORIA BLOOD – WEST CORNFORTH/ COUNDON, COUNTY DURHAM

❌VICTORIA BLOOD – WEST CORNFORTH/ COUNDON, COUNTY DURHAM❌

Woman Banned from Keeping Animals for Life After Four Dogs Starved to Death in “Harrowing” North East Home

A woman from County Durham has been banned from keeping animals for life after leaving four dogs to starve to death inside her kitchen.

Victoria Blood, 53, admitted failing to care for her pets — two Belgian Malinois, a Cocker Spaniel, and a Jack Russell — at her former home on Collingwood Street in Coundon, Bishop Auckland. She told investigators she had not fed them for about four weeks before they died.

RSPCA Inspector Clare Wilson discovered the animals’ remains in what she described as a “thick slurry of faeces,” calling it the most distressing scene she had encountered in 16 years with the charity.

The dogs — two female Malinois named Angel and River, a male Cocker Spaniel called Jax, and a male Jack Russell named Binks — had been locked in the kitchen for around four months. Desperate for water, they had chewed through a pipe beneath the sink.

Blood, who had moved less than half a mile away, later contacted the RSPCA in May to admit the dogs were hers. When she met Inspector Wilson at the property, she refused to enter, saying she believed all the dogs had died. The kitchen door had been barricaded shut from the living room with a broom and a stool.

Inside, officers found the decomposing body of one Malinois partially hidden under a cupboard, along with white tail fur believed to belong to Binks. Due to the state of the kitchen, it was unclear whether the other two dogs’ remains were present or if they had been consumed by the final animal to die.

At Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, November 5, Blood pleaded guilty to an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. She was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 24 months, and given a lifetime ban on keeping animals.

She was also handed a 24-month community order, including 20 rehabilitation days and a six-month mental health placement. The court heard that Blood had moved out of the property in January and initially returned daily to feed the dogs but stopped visiting about four weeks before they were discovered, citing her poor mental health.

Speaking after the hearing, Inspector Wilson said:

“It’s so difficult to think about what poor Angel, River, Jax, and Binks went through in their final months. The scene in the kitchen was the most harrowing I’ve ever encountered in my 16 years as an RSPCA inspector.

I’m pleased a lengthy ban was imposed, which reflects how serious this case was. If anyone feels unable to cope with their pets, please ask for help rather than allowing animals to suffer.”