UNITED KINGDOM -- A brute who battered his Jack Russell to death with a hammer after it bit his daughter walked free from court yesterday.
Dad-of-four Gary Wills waited seven hours before deciding to kill the pup himself rather than go to a vet.
JPs heard that the dog died in agony from a broken skull after being clubbed “several times”.
Wills, 47, admitted failing to ensure the welfare of an animal and told investigators he “lost it” when the pet left his eight-year-old daughter “covered in blood”.
She was playing with it at home at 11pm in Totnes, Devon, when it bit her as she went to kiss it.
John Wyatt, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said Wills took her to hospital where she needed eight stitches and then returned home.
He lay on his bed until 6am before he calmly stroked the dog, told her he was “sorry” and beat her around the head.
When interviewed Wills said: “The dog was lying there, twitching. I lost it and hit her again.”
Mr Wyatt told Torbay magistrates: “It’s not a case of ‘in the spur of the moment’. To his credit he’s admitted it but it’s not the right way to dispose of a dog.”
Wills’ defence said his daughter is scarred for life.
But he was given a 12-month community order and banned from keeping dogs for what the judge called “cruel and inappropriate” action.
The RSPCA said it was “pleased” that Wills was banned for life.
(The Sun UK - May 4, 2012)
