DOG CRUELTY MAN IN COURT
A HUDDERSFIELD man who ill-treated an injured dog has been ordered to carry out 80 hours unpaid work.Lee Paul, 26, a building suppliers salesman, of Fannymoor Lane, Lowerhouses, was also put under 12 months supervision and ordered to pay £500 costs.
He was banned from keeping any animals for five years and ordered to transfer ownership of a Staffordshire bull terrier called Menace to the RSPCA.
Paul appeared at Thames Magistrates Court, East London, for sentencing after being unable to attend two weeks earlier due to Yorkshire’s flooding.
The court was told that the incident happened while he was living in London with the dog and that a witness saw Paul throw the dog twice to the ground, causing pain and injury.
It was claimed that a third similar incident was stopped when Paul realised he was being watched.
The dog had a broken leg which had gone untreated after a previous incident.
Paul pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering and cruelly ill-treating the dog.
The court chairman noted aggravating factors that the dog was young and in pain with a broken leg.
Sean Hurley said Paul wanted to put this behind him, having made a fresh start in Yorkshire.
Mark Jones from the RSPCA said a pedestrian saw Paul throw the dog twice to the ground, with the dog yelping, and that Paul was about to do it a third time before noticing someone watching.
The dog was later found to have a broken and deformed right leg.
Paul, who initially denied the allegations, stated he was responsible for the six-month-old dog but made a full admission during sentencing.
The dog has since made a full recovery and has been rehomed.
