Investigating officer:
RSPCA Inspector Anthony Joynes
Defendant:
Male 30, unemployed
Offence:
Animal Welfare Act 2006 s4
Plea:
Guilty
Total convictions:
One
Sentence:
Disqualified from keeping all animals
for life; 14 weeks' imprisonment.
Prosecuted by:
FPH Law Solicitors
China's second chance
RSPCA Inspector Anthony Joynes was appalled by the untreated
injuries he found on China, a male Staffordshire bull terrier.
It soon became apparent that China's owner
was subject to an abusive relationship, in which
her partner was violent and controlling towards
both her and her pet. The man had punched
China in the head with significant force and
thrown him, from shoulder height, onto a
table; where he landed on his back. He locked
China's owner in the house, preventing her
from seeking veterinary treatment for her dog.
On one occasion she had found China choking
and trembling following a short walk with the
man, and on another he had grabbed China by
the collar, shaken him and thrown him down a
flight of stairs.
When China was examined, the vet
commented that he had never seen a dog with
so many severe and advanced skin lesions. His
opinion was that they were possibly heat burns,
or caused by contact with chemicals. China was
given pain relief and treated with antibiotics.
China had a lovely temperament despite the
severity of the abuse and pain he had suffered.
He was adopted by an RSPCA volunteer dog
walker, who noticed that, in China's early
days in his new home, he became terrified
whenever she boiled the kettle. This has now,
fortunately, become a distant memory.
China's abuser was sentenced
to 14 weeks' imprisonment and
disqualified from keeping all
animals for life.
LINK ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP
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