Sick humour
The first such case involved a man who dropped a live goldfish
into a glass of beer and downed it in a busy restaurant, proclaiming:
"I'm an animal." This was filmed by a second man who posted it
on Facebook.
unpleasant death…You filmed what happened
and put it on a social media site. The further
aggravating feature is that you both found
it so funny and still find it funny now. That
is quite simply sick humour. Neither of you
told the truth to the RSPCA. The offence
was in the presence of the public and you
announced what you were about to do.
Even now you are not remorseful. Your
callous indifference means you cannot be
trusted with any other animal."
RSPCA Inspector Gemma Fowler said:
"Hopefully this will act as a deterrent and
prevent it from happening again."
It did not. Sadly, four more cases were
to follow.
Throughout the investigation the older
defendant claimed he did not actually
swallow the fish but kept it in his mouth, put
it in a glass of water, took it home and put it
in a pond.
In sentencing, the deputy district judge said:
"You might say this fish only met the sort of
death it would have in the wild. You might
say 'well, it's only a goldfish'. Both of these
notions miss the point. Apart from anything
else, the more defenceless an animal is, the
more culpable is the abuse of it. It may not
be obvious that fish have the same feelings
that a dog or cat has, but that does not mean
that they are incapable of experiencing pain…
That creature died a deeply painful and wholly
NekNominationThe beginning of 2014 saw a craze known as 'NekNomination'
spreading via social media. This involved people challenging
one another to drink bizarre alcoholic concoctions on camera
and posting the resulting footage on the internet.
Unfortunately, a handful of individuals went a step too far by
involving animals.
This resulted in the RSPCA prosecuting five such cases in 2014,
highlighting the unnecessary suffering caused to animals.
The courts treated these cases of animal cruelty with the
seriousness that they deserved. There was extensive media
reporting of these cases, which hopefully deterred others
from committing similar offences.
Investigating officer:
RSPCA Inspector Gemma Fowler
Defendants:
Male 20, club promoter;
male 19, unemployed
Offences:
Animal Welfare Act 2006 s4;
Magistrates' Court Act 1980 s44
Pleas:
Guilty
Total convictions:
Two
Sentence:
Both disqualified from keeping animals
for three years; 40 hours' unpaid work;
£723 costs.
Prosecuted by:
Lupton Fawcett Denison Till Solicitors
istockphoto.com
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