Post by CampWhippet on Apr 27, 2006 20:24:30 GMT -5
WARNING: This story is not pleasant and involves the death of a pet greyhound.
Dog's horror death after owner 'flipped'
A TERRIFIED dog struggled for up to seven minutes as its owner suffocated it with a bin bag.
Sean Martin was shopped to the RSPCA by a neighbour after his horrified wife found out what he had done when he "totally lost it" and killed the beloved greyhound the family had owned for nearly 17 years.
The 43-year-old was sentenced to 125 hours of community service at Ely Magistrates' Court yesterday (Tuesday, 25 April) after he admitted animal cruelty.
The dog, called Pearl, took an estimated seven minutes to die and kicked her legs and yelped in fear during the late-night incident two days after Christmas.
Hayley Saunders, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said:
"The family had the dog for 16- and-a-half-years and she was 18 at the time of her death.
"The dog used to race but she had been ill for over a year and had previously had an operation to remove a tumour at an RSPCA Veterinary Clinic.
"The defendant's wife also said the dog was losing weight and that she was incontinent and unsteady on her feet. She told the RSPCA that she had discussed putting her down with her husband but said she couldn't face it."
Instead Martin, of Cameron Road, Cambridge, put a black bin bag over Pearl's head and held it around her neck until she suffocated.
Miss Saunders said: "His wife said he came back from bingo and went into the lounge. She told him Pearl had a "sort of fit" earlier in the evening.
Mrs Martin said her husband told her to go away and not to come in the room, but she thought it was just because he was in a mood.
"Later when she did enter the room she saw her dog lying dead and the defendant told her that he had held a bag over its head."
Shocked and upset, Mrs Martin told a neighbour what had happened and the neighbour promptly shopped Martin to the RSPCA.
In an interview with an RSPCA inspector, Martin admitted what he had done and said: "She had been bad for a while. I just couldn't take it any more.
"I totally lost it because she was soiling in the house and the garden. I thought the bag was a good way to do it."
John Aspinall, mitigating, argued that Martin thought it was "the kindest thing" to suffocate his dog. Martin and his wife have separated since the incident.
Magistrates ordered Martin to pay court costs of £500 in addition to the community service.
Alan Williams, presiding magistrate, said: "Your actions were impulsive but we have noted your remorse."
They did not ban the father-offour from owning animals in the future, which left RSPCA inspector Chris Nice "disappointed".
www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/ely/2006/04/26/823b58a2-0a6e-4546-90ff-5bcb4bccd897.lpf
Dog's horror death after owner 'flipped'
A TERRIFIED dog struggled for up to seven minutes as its owner suffocated it with a bin bag.
Sean Martin was shopped to the RSPCA by a neighbour after his horrified wife found out what he had done when he "totally lost it" and killed the beloved greyhound the family had owned for nearly 17 years.
The 43-year-old was sentenced to 125 hours of community service at Ely Magistrates' Court yesterday (Tuesday, 25 April) after he admitted animal cruelty.
The dog, called Pearl, took an estimated seven minutes to die and kicked her legs and yelped in fear during the late-night incident two days after Christmas.
Hayley Saunders, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said:
"The family had the dog for 16- and-a-half-years and she was 18 at the time of her death.
"The dog used to race but she had been ill for over a year and had previously had an operation to remove a tumour at an RSPCA Veterinary Clinic.
"The defendant's wife also said the dog was losing weight and that she was incontinent and unsteady on her feet. She told the RSPCA that she had discussed putting her down with her husband but said she couldn't face it."
Instead Martin, of Cameron Road, Cambridge, put a black bin bag over Pearl's head and held it around her neck until she suffocated.
Miss Saunders said: "His wife said he came back from bingo and went into the lounge. She told him Pearl had a "sort of fit" earlier in the evening.
Mrs Martin said her husband told her to go away and not to come in the room, but she thought it was just because he was in a mood.
"Later when she did enter the room she saw her dog lying dead and the defendant told her that he had held a bag over its head."
Shocked and upset, Mrs Martin told a neighbour what had happened and the neighbour promptly shopped Martin to the RSPCA.
In an interview with an RSPCA inspector, Martin admitted what he had done and said: "She had been bad for a while. I just couldn't take it any more.
"I totally lost it because she was soiling in the house and the garden. I thought the bag was a good way to do it."
John Aspinall, mitigating, argued that Martin thought it was "the kindest thing" to suffocate his dog. Martin and his wife have separated since the incident.
Magistrates ordered Martin to pay court costs of £500 in addition to the community service.
Alan Williams, presiding magistrate, said: "Your actions were impulsive but we have noted your remorse."
They did not ban the father-offour from owning animals in the future, which left RSPCA inspector Chris Nice "disappointed".
www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/ely/2006/04/26/823b58a2-0a6e-4546-90ff-5bcb4bccd897.lpf
