5-year ban for woman who locked her dog in bathroom

Bulldog found by cops living in squalor

- Sentinel Reporter

A WOMAN locked her 13-year-old dog in her bathroom for five days - while nobody was at home.

Mia De Merzo left American Bulldog Zara in the property in Heming Place, Bucknall, after Stoke-on-Trent City Council took her keys from her.

De Merzo, 26, told North Staffordshire Justice Centre that she'd tried calling the council to tell them Zara was in there but she made the calls during the weekend and couldn't get through.

The court heard police officers turned up at the property for another matter and found the emaciated dog inside the bathroom in squalid conditions surrounded by faeces

She has now been banned from keeping pets for five years.