Jailed: Cruel owner who maimed eight-week-old Jack Russell puppy by cutting off its tail and leaving it in excruciating pain

UNITED KINGDOM -- A man who maimed an eight-week-old puppy by cutting of its tail and leaving it to suffer excruciating pain has been jailed and banned from keeping animals.

Walter Doe, 24, sliced off the tail of his pet Jack Russell, called Jack, two inches from its base using a ‘sharp tool’.

Unemployed Doe, of Uckfield, East Sussex, was caught last July after a report of concern for the animal’s welfare was made to RSPCA.

 

The charity said workers found the black and white puppy with a bandage around his tail and in obvious pain after Doe maimed it.

Jack the puppy was taken to a vet who removed the bandage and found a very raw wound, about two inches from the tail base, with the rest of the tail removed, an RSPCA spokesman said.

She added: ‘The vet said it was a very clean-cut wound and must have been made with a sharp tool.’

Doe was jailed at Hastings Magistrates' Court for 12 weeks for causing unnecessary suffering to the puppy and failing to seek veterinary treatment for his open wound.

He was also banned from keeping all animals for 10 years.

RSPCA Inspector Andrew Kirby said: ‘The prison sentence reflects how seriously the court took the suffering caused to the puppy.

‘We have no proof about what was used to dock Jack's tail but, whether it was a knife or a pair of scissors, he would have been in agony.

‘Cutting through the bone of the tail must have been excruciatingly painful and no attempt at all was made to relieve this pain.

‘Tail docking is such a brutal way to treat a young animal in any case.
‘As well as the pain it causes, it is just completely unnecessary and deprives the animal of their best means of expression and balance.

‘We urge people to remember that is it is against the law for a reason.’

The court also ordered that Jack, who has been living in foster care while the case was ongoing, is taken from Doe on a permanent basis.

Mr Kirby said: ‘Jack was very quiet and subdued when I found him, which is hardly surprising if you think about what he had gone through.

‘But he soon came out of his shell and is such a lovely little dog despite everything - and I really took his case to heart, so much so that I have decided to adopt him myself.

‘I just want to give him a happy forever home so he can forget his tough start in life.’

Anyone with any information about a case of animal cruelty should call the RSPCA on 0300 1234999.

(Daily Mail - April 16th 2014)