Liverpool man sentenced after beating up his dog
Calum Turner was caught on CCTV repeatedly striking 'Mochi' with a child's push toy
Last updated 29th Oct 2021
A man has been sentenced after CCTV footage caught him beating his dog with the handle of a children’s push toy in a garden in Liverpool.
It happened in the garden of a house on Lewisham Road, Norris Green, on Friday, 2 July 2021.
25 year old Calum Turner of Antonio Street, Bootle pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to his dog Mochi after kicking and beating him.
A two-minute CCTV video showed Turner wrestling and kicking out at something that is moving around at ground level and obscured by the angle of the camera.
He then removes a handle from a push toy and uses this to strike down multiple times before stamping down and kicking in the same direction.
Turner then stands up and as he does a Staffordshire Bull Terrier dog, Mochi, runs across the garden.
Inspector Joanne McDonald assisted with the RSPCA investigation
She said: “Before attending the location I saw the CCTV footage of the beating. I saw a male, who I now know to be a Mr Calum Turner, who appeared to be hitting, kicking and smacking a dog for a prolonged period. The fence seemed to be obstructing the view but near the end the dog clearly ran away from the area Mr Turner was seen in. It was very upsetting to watch and I was very concerned for the dogs at that property.”
At the property, Inspector McDonald explained why they were visiting and asked that the dogs be seen by a vet to be checked over.
She said: “After the dogs were loaded into my van Mr Turner approached me and said that he had repeatedly whacked Mochi with a soft toy as he thought he had mauled their other dog Mitzee. He then said he had his arms around Mochi and was shouting at him and he admitted that he went too far.”
The two dogs, five-year-old Mochi and 12-week-old Mitzee were then taken to a vet to be assessed where they were found to be bright and alert and without injuries. However, the court heard how the vet report stated that Mochi had been caused to suffer.
The vet report concluded: “Although the CCTV footage and lack of supporting medical evidence of injury do not provide any definitive evidence Turner made physical contact with Mochi by striking the dog with the metal and plastic push toy handle and by kicking and stamping down on the dog, the statements made by Turner confirm such physical contact did occur which caused the dog to yelp and cry out. These actions would have caused the dog to suffer. Suffering will have been experienced by this animal via mechanisms of pain, fear and distress for a period of two minutes, probably longer.”
Turner was sentenced to a 12-month community order and ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £500 costs and a victim surcharge of £95.
There was no disqualification order banning him from keeping animals as it was stated that although this was ‘a relatively prolonged and nasty incident’ they were satisfied due to previous good character and the stress Turner was under at that time, that this was unlikely to be repeated. Turner is also not in fact the owner of either Mochi or Mitzee.
Inspector Leanne Cragg, who investigated said: “This was a callous act involving the deliberate beating of poor Mochi who would have experienced pain and fear as a direct result of this horrible attack.”
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