Telford man disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years after ill treatment of dog
A Telford man has been disqualified from keeping all animals for 10 years after he failed to protect his puppy from pain, suffering and injury after he was captured on video ill-treating him.
Adam Luke Karakulah, age 29, of Stafford Park, Telford, pleaded guilty to one offence under the Animal Welfare Act and was sentenced at Cannock Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 2 December.
The court heard how video evidence taken in July showed Karakulah hit his puppy Romeo with a mop and on another occasion he struck Romeo with his foot three times.
Another video clip shows him bend down to handle Romeo and he strikes him approximately four times. Another time he “grabs Romeo by the neck using one hand and picks him up roughly”.
In mitigation it was heard that he was very sorry and accepted his training fell short and took advice from the internet as he was inexperienced. He is now educating himself on how to dog train.
As well as the 10 year ban on keeping all animals he was sentenced to a 12-month Community Order with 80 hours unpaid work and was ordered to pay costs of £350 and a victim surcharge of £114.
In a statement provided to the court, RSPCA Inspector Nayman Dunderdale, said it was on 21 July this year he was sent videos which showed “a chihuahua type dog being physically ill treated”.
The following day he was able to see Romeo - who was staying not with his owner at that time - and “seemed to appear in normal bodily with no apparent limps sores or injuries”.
He added that Romeo “seemed a confident young pup but was hand shy and did not like being touched near its neck and head”.
On 31 July he was informed Romeo had been examined by a vet. He said: “There was no sign of injury or disease but it was not deemed appropriate that he be x-ray due to his age and showing no sign of injury.”
In a statement from a vet, who examined the videos, they said that they showed how Romeo was “inappropriately handled by the owner”.
The vet went on to write that in their professional opinion on a veterinary basis the owner of Romeo failed to take reasonable steps to protect him from pain, injury, fear and distress by their failure to handle and interact with them appropriately.
They added: “I would have expected a responsible owner not to hit their dog, and to recognize when their behavior was causing the dog distress—and to stop.
“The way in which the owner forcefully handled Romeo was unnecessary and will have caused fear and distress in anticipation of being handled and/ or struck due to the threat of pain and injury.
“Additionally, this rough handling, hitting and kicking of Romeo may have caused pain and injury which was not detectable at the time of examination, which (based on the time stamps on the videos) may have taken place up to 20 days after the recorded incidents of abuse.”
It was also added that the manner in which the owner spoke to Romeo was inappropriate and would have “likely to cause fear and distress”.
Following sentencing Inspector Dunderdale said: “There is never an excuse to treat a dog in this way and the RSPCA advocates reward-based training. Luckily Romeo didn’t appear to have any long term injuries, who is now in a new home.”
