Guilty of Animal Abuse But No Ban For Couple Who “Need a Guard Dog”
A couple who admitted to allowing their dog hobble around with a 10cm wide leg wound have been fined after they plead guilty to animal cruelty.
The pair, from Cambridgeshire, had to have the dog put to sleep, so serious was the injury having been neglected.
However they won’t be banned from keeping animals. Why, you might reasonably ask? Because THEY need a guard dog.
Cambridge News Online reports:
A MARRIED couple have been left with a £1,500 legal bill after admitting animal cruelty charges.
Anthony and Elizabeth Haynes appeared at Ely Magistrates Court, where they pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to their guard dog, Lucy.
The court heard how the couple failed to take the elderly Alsatian to the vet for seven months after she hurt her leg.
It meant the she was left hobbling around for months until an RSPCA officer inspected her at the couple’s home in West Fen Road, Willingham on January 14.
He discovered a 10cm open wound in Lucy’s leg, on which she was unable to stand. Vets decided it was better to put her down, rather than amputate the leg.
Mr Haynes, a lorry driver, told magistrates: “I regret what I done to the dog - I had her eight years and I miss her now.
“I made a big mistake - I did not realise she was in so much pain.”
He also asked magistrates not to impose a ban on the couple keeping animals because he needed a dog to protect his yard from burglars.
Magistrates agreed with his security concerns and refrained from imposing a ban.
Source
British justice. Don’t you just love it?
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