A Staffordshire puppy killer fled from court as his sentence was being considered.
David Raybone, 39, of Lichfield Road, Tamworth, admitted the offence of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal when he appeared at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 17th November 2022.
Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal is an offence under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. For offences committed on or after 29th June 2021, as in this case, it has a maximum penalty of 5 years' custody on conviction on indictment; 12 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction.
Jane Skeates, prosecuting for the RSPCA, outlined the circumstances of the offence, which took place on Friday, 21st January 2022.
Ms Skeates said: "On the day in question the puppy escaped from Mr Raybone's address, a flat in the vicinity of Rivermead Vets in Tamworth.
"One of the vets was outside the centre exercising his own dog. He assisted in catching the puppy and gave it back to Mr Raybone. Mr Raybone then went on to release the dog again.
"Various members of the public observed him restrain the dog by virtue of a leather belt around the neck. It was a leather belt with a metal buckle."
A witness described the terrified young pup frantically trying to escape from Raybone.
"She felt exceptionally uneasy," Ms Skeates continued.
"The man himself (Raybone) had a really nasty, aggressive way. He lifted the dog off the ground so the dog had no feet on the floor at all.
"She wanted to intervene but was scared. He was dragging the dog on his side behind him and the dog wasn't moving. The whole incident upset her and made her sick to her stomach."
Other members of the public removed the puppy from Raybone and took it into the vets for treatment, but it was too late to save the unresponsive animal.
Mark Moore, mitigating, told the court that his client was battling addiction.
"The defendant had the dog and when he received the dog it was in a poor condition," said Mr Moore.
"He spent money on that dog getting it to a state of health. Although he accepts what happened, the dog was well looked after. He had appropriate food and appropriate bedding and appropriate leads within his flat.
"This was not a prolonged period of neglect. Mr Raybone cared for the dog in an entirely appropriate way."
Mr Moore said that his client had panicked when the young puppy escaped and was concerned at the intervention of members of the public.
Having heard the circumstances, District Judge David Wain retired to consider sentencing options.
In the meantime Raybone took it upon himself to leave the court building, pausing briefly to tell an usher "I'm just calling my Mum".
He didn't return.
Having heard of the defendant's disappearing act, DJ Wain returned to court and said: "Well that's an unusual turnup for the books. There's a way he can make things considerably worse which is to abscond from court."
A warrant was issued for Raybone's arrest.
As a dog lover myself, I struggle to think of many things lower than people who abuse them.
A spineless, dog-abusing bully, who is too gutless to face up to his punishment - that just about trumps it.
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