South Antrim MLA Trevor Clarke has asked the Attorney General to review the case of 23-year-old Aleshia McLaverty who was given a suspended sentence for animal cruelty on Tuesday.
Mr Clarke said: “I have written to the Attorney General about the undue leniency of this case, it sends out a reprehensible message that you can commit such a heinous crime against a defenseless animal and get off with a slap on the wrist."
McLaverty pleaded guilty to a charge of causing unnecessary suffering to the five month old Labrador-type dog.
The body of the severely emaciated dog was found hanging upside down from blinds at McLaverty’s former ground floor flat at Firmount Drive in Antrim’s Greystone estate in April, 2014.
She was given a two-month jail term, suspended for two years, and banned from keeping animals for five years at Antrim Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
The District Judge said the starting point for sentencing was custody but he had to take into account her previously clear record and guilty plea and suspended the prison term.
The judge also referred to McLaverty being the mother of a young baby.
Mr Clarke added: “This animal suffering from starvation and dehydration, in what I am certain was a last ditch attempt to escape from certain death entangled itself in the window blinds where it finally died. This case is horrendous and this sentence does not match crime.”
His comments were echoed by Antrim and Newtownabbey DUP councillor Nigel Kells who said the case had “sickened him to his stomach”.
Mr Kells added: “It is impossible for me as an animal lover to imagine the suffering this ‘family pet’ must have went through. How vile and cruel an act do you have to commit on an animal for receive jail time?
“To ban her from having a pet for a mere five years is completely inadequate, She should never be allowed another animal as long as she lives.”
When welfare officers entered the flat at Firmount Drive following a tip-off in April 2014 they were met with a disgusting smell in a faeces-filled house and a swarm of flies as the maggot-infested dead dog was found in an emaciated state, dead, and hanging upside down from a blinds cord.
A prosecutor said officials believe that before they die dogs will often try to make a last gasp effort for freedom and that the dog was trying to smash its way out through a window.
A post-mortem revealed the dog had been dehydrated and starved to death and had drank the toilet bowl dry in a bid to survive.
It had also pawed at food packs in a search for food.
McLaverty pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering and failing to ensure the welfare of a Labrador pup for which she was responsible.
The charges were brought against her by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council under the Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011.
Defence barrister Aaron Thompson said it was a “tragic case of passive neglect” after the house was “abandoned” and had not been lived in for some time.
He said the dog was trapped in the house after McLaverty became pregnant and went to live with her mother.
He said it was the sort of tragic case which “captures the ire of the community” and he said McLaverty, who now lives with her partner and their child, was “very emotional and distressed” and came to the court with a “good character”.
By her guilty plea he said she accepted she knew the dog was in the house and “effectively did nothing about it”.
Clifford Todd, Head of Environmental Health for Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, said: “Council gives a high priority to the welfare of domestic pets and horses and operates a rigorous enforcement policy to ensure full compliance of regulatory requirements.
”Complaints are investigated thoroughly and where necessary formal action is taken, which may include the service of Improvement Notices or, in extreme cases, the seizure of animals.
"The council will prosecute for offences such as in this particularly harrowing case, which I hope serves as a warning to anyone who does not take appropriate care of animals.”
(Belfast Live - Aug 6, 2015)
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