A Greater Manchester man kicked his dog and threatened a woman who tried to intervene.
Michael Lee, 47, of Hilda Street, Heywood, was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and common assault after a recent trial at Bolton Magistrates' Court.
Causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal is an offence under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2004. The maximum penalty is 5 years' custody and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment; 12 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction.
Magistrates heard that a woman was walking through Queen's Park, Heywood, on the afternoon of Saturday, 22nd January 2022 when she observed Lee kicking the bullmastiff dog.
In evidence, she said: "It was kind of like a kick a rugby player would perform to get the ball over the post."
The woman heard the distressed animal yelp in pain and saw it was cowering. Sufficiently concerned, she approached Lee and asked if she could buy the dog from him.
The witness continued: "He said he was going to smash my face in, he was swearing at me, telling me go away, he said he was going to hang the dog, he said he was going to hang me and drown me in the river."
"He said he was going to kill it", she added. "He said he was going to hang it in the woods."
The woman described how Lee "just kept leathering" the dog, which was "absolutely petrified" of him.
The police arrived a short time later and detained Lee, who responded aggressively.
Body worn video footage showed one officer taking hold of the dog's lead, which resulted in Lee grabbing it back and screaming "I want my fucking dog back". He also referred to the officers as "a bunch of wankers".
Photographs were shown of the muddy foot marks on the dog's chest, clearly demonstrating where it had been kicked.
Giving evidence Lee told the court that he had previously had "10 to 20" dogs, all of which he had trained himself. The dog in question, called Chunk, was around 18 months old at the time of the incident.
He said: "I have a rope lead, he has it in mouth and I'm tugging as I'm going along, it's how I train him to carry his lead."
"As he's tugging it, I'm raising my leg as an action so the dog can react to it. When he sees it he'll spin, so he can’t get kicked. It's mainly for his protection.
"I've trained that dog since he was 3 months old and there was no reaction whatsoever. He normally reacts instantly."
"I looked at him to see if there was anything wrong and looked at him in the eyes. One of his eyes were white. My Chunky has clear eyes."
Lee then went on to say that the dog in the park wasn't actually his, offering the bizarre explanation that one of his friends, who was "taking the piss", had swapped his Chunk for a doppelganger responding to the same name.
"I know how it sounds but my mate's had a bit of a joke. The litter Chunk came from, there were three dogs that looked exactly the same.
"My mate's dog is called Chunk as well but he wasn't my Chunk."
Lee admitted "saying a few horrible things" to the woman, saying that he was distressed when she followed him. He denied throwing anything or making threats towards her.
Having carefully considered the evidence Magistrates were of the opinion that Lee was guilty of both offences.
He was granted unconditional bail until his sentencing at Tameside Magistrates' Court on Monday, 15th August 2022.
No comments:
Post a Comment