A man today admitted injuring a dog by running it to exhaustion before it collapsed and lost consciousness.
Jason McKay caused the Husky unnecessary suffering when he cycled with the dog on a lead near Hoodles PlayBarn by Oldmeldrum in Aberdeenshire on the B9170 road.
The 27-year-old then tried to pull the dog along a footpath by its lead after it fell to the ground about four miles away in Burn Lane in Inverurie.
The animal was run and walked to exhaustion which caused it to lose consciousness and suffer breathing problems.
All of the dog’s four paws were also injured and bleeding following the incident on July 22 last year.
McKay, of Inverurie, admitted the charge when he appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court today.
He was further accused of kicking the dog but that part of the charge was deleted by the depute fiscal before he plead guilty.
Defence lawyer Mike Monro said his client suffered from autism, dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Before the guilty plea was accepted, sheriff William Taylor informed Mr Monro that he was a dog lover who had three dogs of his own until Friday. One of his dogs had passed away on Saturday morning.
Sheriff Taylor advised Mr Monro that he had brought it to his attention in case the lawyer believed that the sheriff should recuse himself from the case.
However, Mr Monro said he was hopeful that the case would not proceed to trial.
The lawyer informed the court that McKay no longer had the husky which was now being cared for by staff at the Scottish SPCA animal welfare charity.
Sheriff Taylor called for background reports and deferred sentence until next month.