UNITED KINGDOM -- A DOG that savaged a beloved pet cat will have to wear a muzzle whenever it is in public, a court has ruled.
Ryan Ramshaw’s lurcher, Slip, killed 15-year-old Penny in front of its horrified owner on July 22 last year.
The 19-year-old admitted failing to keep his dog under control at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court in April, but the case could not be completed because he no longer owns the dog.
Previous hearings heard his cousin now looks after the dog and, because the only power the magistrates have in the case was to make a control order on the dog, he needed to be present before it could be closed.
But on Friday, Ramshaw, of Roman Road, Hebburn, and his cousin turned up and magistrates made an order that whenever the lurcher is in public it must have a muzzle on and that it must be microchipped.
Zeena Begum, prosecuting, said: “It was 7pm when the dog’s owner Vivenne Mahon went to her local shop. She heard a commotion behind her and heard someone shouting ‘get off’. She said she knew it was her cat and she saw a dog with the cat in its jaws shaking it to side to side.
“The cat’s eyes were bulging and she said she thought its eyes were going to pop out.”
The court heard Ramshaw was kicking his dog to try to get it away from the cat and eventually it let go, but the cat was fatally injured.
Christopher Brown, defending, said: “He is dreadfully sorry that this unfortunate incident happened, no one wanted it.
“He was going to the chip shop and didn’t know the dog followed him out. He has had sleepless nights over this. He took immediate action and tried to get the dog away.”
Speaking after the case, the cat’s devastated owner Ms Mahon said: “I’m pleased the case is finished and Ramshaw has had to face the music. That dog should never have been out without a muzzle.
“The sentence is irrelevant, he has taken responsibility for it. I feel I have got justice for my cat. She was 15 and was my baby.”
(Shields Gazette - July 1, 2013)
