Man caught hurling his elderly dog over a fence and onto concrete path

A man has been banned from keeping pets for five years after shocking footage showed him throw his elderly Staffordshire bull terrier over a gate.

Kieran O’Connor, 35, hurled the dog onto a concrete path, before opening the gate and walking in himself.

CCTV caught the self-employed gardener from Liverpool raising his hands and launching the animal into the air, leaving him ‘exposed to acute pain’.

The footage shows Prince falling on his side and stumbling, as O’Connor seems unbothered.

A member of the public sent the clip to the RSPCA, who launched an investigation.

O’Connor was taken to court, where he admitted failing to meet Prince’s needs to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease by the ‘infliction of physical abuse and emotional distress’ in breach of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

At Liverpool & Knowsley Magistrates’ Court on July 2, he was given a community order which involves 26 programme requirement days, and ordered to pay costs of £500 and a victim surcharge of £114.

RSPCA Inspector Caren Goodman said in a statement that she went to the defendant’s then address in Kirkby, Merseyside, in October last year.

Accompanied by police, she got no answer by knocking the door, but could see Prince through a window, sitting on the front room sofa.

The police officer who was with her called the defendant’s number – which was advertised on his trailer parked outside – but he refused to attend the address.

After waiting 25 minutes, the officer gained entry to the property using a search warrant, and Prince was taken into RSPCA care.

She said Prince had ‘ideal body condition’, was ‘bright, alert and active’ and showed ‘no obvious signs of distress’.

When she spoke to the defendant the following day, he claimed he was ‘putting his dog over the fence’ because his neighbours had accused Prince of attacking their dogs.

A vet at RSPCA Greater Manchester Animal Hospital who viewed the footage signed a Veterinary Certificate supporting Prince’s removal from the house.

Although a full examination revealed that he had not sustained any fractures, the vet said he had been put through unnecessary distress and suffering, and he was given pain relief.

After the hearing, Inspector Goodman said: ‘The most surprising thing about this case is that Kieran did not seem to understand that what he did was wrong.

‘This attitude meant that he would not sign Prince over to us – even when the prosecution had run its course.

‘We had to obtain an order from the court to make sure we could take him into our care and get him into a safe and secure environment.

‘Nobody should be cruel or neglectful towards any animal and the kind of violence we saw here is absolutely unacceptable.’

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