Overview
- CCTV showed Terrence and Sadie Boyd carrying a black bin bag toward the Leeds and Liverpool Canal on August 27, 2025 and returning minutes later after the bag was thrown into the water.
- A member of the public and Lancashire Fire and Rescue pulled the dog, Maddie, from the canal and she was taken to a vet but was euthanised two days later when her condition worsened.
- Veterinary evidence presented at Burnley Magistrates’ Court recorded hypothermia, severe malnutrition, dental disease and puncture wounds as reasons for Maddie’s decline.
- The couple pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act and were each given eight-week prison terms suspended for 12 months, ordered to complete 20 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days and to pay a £154 victim surcharge, with a 10-year ban on keeping animals and a five-year bar on applying to lift the ban.
- RSPCA and police seized seven underweight kittens and a corn snake from the Boyds’ home, one kitten was euthanised for welfare reasons and the surviving animals have been given specialist care or rehomed while the charity and local community called the outcome an account being held to those responsible.