Sunderland man jailed for beating Yorkshire Terrier to death.
A man from Sunderland has been disqualified from keeping all animals for life after beating a Yorksire terrier to death.
Following a prosecution brought by the RSPCA, Daniel Calvan Gair (DOB 02.09.1977) of Hastings Street, Sunderland, was sentenced at South Tyneside Magistrates Court on Tuesday (October 12). He was found guilty following a trial of causing unnecessary suffering to the dog at an earlier hearing (August 31).
The court heard how a Yorkshire terrier called Billy was found dead by Gair’s then partner at the side of her bed when she woke up on 5 October 2019.
She wrapped him in a blanket, placed him in a box and took him to nearby vets who were suspicious of the nature of the injuries they found on his body and reported the matter to the RSPCA.
Gair denied having harmed Billy, claiming he had found him with diarrhoea on some of his fur so had washed him in the shower earlier that morning and dried him with a towel before returning him to the bedroom before he left for work. However, when his partner woke and found Billy a couple of hours later, his coat was dry and not wet or even damp as might have been expected.
A post-mortem report revealed Billy had suffered collapsed lungs, damage to his heart, six fractured ribs, a protruding left eye and bruises on the underside of his neck, chest and head.
An expert veterinary witness with experience in non-accidental injuries concluded all of Billy’s injuries were acute and consistent with blunt force trauma and occurred shortly before he died.
The vet stated: “The injuries sustained were very severe including six fractured ribs and a number of areas of bruising. All these injuries are consistent with blunt force trauma.
“Rib fractures are a common abuse finding in animal abuse cases. Rib fractures may occur due to the focal application of force, which includes the animal being struck, kicked, stomped or thrown against a blunt object.
“The injuries detailed within the post mortem report cannot be explained by the dog having injured himself while in the home environment and are consistent with at least four applications of blunt force. These were found on the left side of the chest, right side of the chest, right side of the head and pelvis area."
The findings showed Gair’s account was inconsistent with the veterinary evidence. The court stated they could not find any mitigation and they considered the offending so serious that it crossed the custody threshold.
In addition to the lifetime disqualification which he cannot contest for ten years, Gair was sentenced to 18 weeks immediate custody and ordered to pay £650 costs.
After the sentencing hearing, RSPCA Inspector Cathy Maddison who investigated the case for the animal welfare charity said: “The injuries inflicted on such a small dog are awful and inexcusable. It was a very distressing case to investigate”.
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