A shocking video shows the moment an owner grabs his elderly Staffordshire bull terrier and throws him over a gate and onto a concrete path.
Kieran O’Connor, 35, has now been banned from keeping pets for five years after he exposed his dog Prince to ‘acute pain’.
CCTV footage shows the self-employed gardener launching his ageing pet from the pavement instead over opening the gate for him to walk in.
Prince, from Liverpool, can be seen in the footage falling on his side and stumbling as O’Connor strolls through the gate into his garden.
A court heard the RSPCA began investigating the case after a worried member of the public sent the video to them.
At Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates’ Court, O’Connor admitted to failing to meet Prince’s needs to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease by the ‘infliction of physical abuse and emotional distress’ – in breach of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
He was given a community order which involves 26 programme requirement days and ordered to pay costs of £500 and a victim surcharge of £114.
At a sentencing hearing on July 2, RSPCA Inspector Caren Goodman said in a statement to the court that she went to the defendant’s then address in Kirkby, Merseyside, in October last year.
Kieran O’Connor, 35,was caught on CCTV launching his dog over his garden fence
O’Connor has now been banned from keeping pets for five years
Accompanied by a colleague and a Merseyside Police officer, she got no answer by knocking the door, but could see Prince through a window, sitting on the front room sofa.
The police officer who was with her called the defendant’s number – which was advertised on his trailer parked outside – but he refused to attend the address.
After waiting 25 minutes, the officer gained entry to the property using a search warrant, and Prince was taken into RSPCA care.
She said Prince had ‘ideal body condition’, was ‘bright, alert and active’ and showed ‘no obvious signs of distress’.
When she spoke to the defendant the following day, he claimed he was ‘putting his dog over the fence’ because his neighbours had accused Prince of attacking their dogs.
A vet at RSPCA Greater Manchester Animal Hospital who viewed the footage, said it began with Prince being walked on a lead towards a gate by a man.
Her report added that ‘instead of opening the gate’ he was seen ‘picking up the dog and forcefully throwing it on the other side of the gate.
‘The dog has fallen down on its side/back’ and ‘looks very confused on the video, it takes a few seconds for it to get up.’
O’Connor picks prince up holding him by the scruff of his neck and his back
He then launches his elderly dog over his own garden fence
Prince is then falling on his side and stumbling as O’Connor strolls through the gate into his garden
The vet signed a Veterinary Certificate supporting Prince’s removal from the house and at the surgery, he was given pain relief.
Although a full examination revealed that he had not sustained any fractures, the vet said he had been put through unnecessary distress and suffering.
After the hearing, Inspector Goodman said: ‘The most surprising thing about this case is that Kieran did not seem to understand that what he did was wrong.
‘This attitude meant that he would not sign Prince over to us – even when the prosecution had run its course.
‘We had to obtain an order from the court to make sure we could take him into our care and get him into a safe and secure environment.
‘Every animal has the right to be treated with kindness and respect.
‘Nobody should be cruel or neglectful towards any animal and the kind of violence we saw here is absolutely unacceptable.
‘I would also like to thank the kind member of the public who reported this attack to us.
‘Without their intervention and without the video evidence they allowed us to use, this prosecution would have been more difficult.
‘It shows that people don’t accept that animals can be treated in this way and also how helpful it is when those who witness cruelty can somehow provide footage to help us rescue animals in danger.’
