An Aberdeen dog owner has been jailed after four badly neglected puppies had to be put out of their misery due to being kept in a “faeces-ridden” flat.
Shaun McCourt, 42, kept six Mastiff-cross puppies in cramped and squalid conditions in a “shocking” case of animal cruelty that saw them suffer bone deformities and skin infections.
One of the dogs had to be put down immediately to halt its suffering, while three others were euthanised soon after due to the sheer number of injuries and abnormalities.
A vet who examined the little dogs stated that she had “never seen puppies in such a bad bodily condition”.
Sheriff Rory Bannerman described McCourt’s treatment of the dogs as “frankly horrendous” before he jailed him for a total of five months.
Puppy had bone deformities
Fiscal depute Brooklyn Shaw told the court that police were called to the home and found a Mastiff named Storm and her six puppies in a neglected state.
The puppies were in the living room of the two-bedroom property, which had the door removed and placed sideways across the threshold to prevent them escaping.
The dogs were estimated to be around five months old and some had swelling on their bodies.
Ms Shaw said the furniture in the front room of the flat had been destroyed by the animals.
Many of the puppies suffered bone fractures that were still present or healed in abnormal ways to create bone deformities.
The SSPCA investigators formed the opinion that the puppies had never left the property.
It was stated that the makeshift pen was deemed unsuitable as they had “little to no room”.
The SSPCA officer added that the room where Storm was kept smelled strongly of ammonia and the kitchen of the property was in an unkempt state with dog food all over the floor.
When examined by a vet, the animals were found to have various ailments and infections.
One puppy had suffered a jaw fracture that was so bad it had to be euthanised immediately on welfare grounds.
The state Storm was found in was given a body score of two out of nine and had patches of dried faeces on her body.
She was also covered in paint in sections of her body and her paws were inflamed.
Another puppy was found with leg swelling, a fractured jaw and skin infections, while one suffered a fracture of its upper incisor, resulting in its gums being severely infected and inflamed.
A third puppy had an infection from what looked like a puncture wound, alongside fractures where the bones had healed the wrong way creating leg deformities.
‘Each one had something worse than the other’
The vet who examined the dogs said she had “never seen puppies in such a bad bodily condition”.
“Each one had something worse than the other,” Ms Petersen said, quoting the vet.
“The injuries were so severe that the person would have been fully aware that they were in pain,” she added.
Defence solicitor Debbie Ginniver told the court that McCourt had obtained Storm and that a member of his family planned to breed her but said the dog had “become pregnant much earlier than planned”.
“Mr McCourt accepts that he let the care of the dogs slip, but he hadn’t realised how badly he had let it slip,” the solicitor said.
“He has always owned dogs and nothing like this has ever happened before – he insists his behaviour wasn’t intentional.”
Sheriff Bannerman told McCourt: “I have absolutely no doubt that if not for your actions there would be six dogs in society today instead of only two.
“It’s frankly horrendous and in my view there is only one disposal and that’s a custodial sentence.”
Sheriff Bannerman jailed McCourt, of Hogarth Walk, Kirkdale, Liverpool, for five months and disqualified him from owning dogs for five years.
Suffering of dogs is ‘unthinkable’
Alison McKenzie, Procurator Fiscal for Aberdeen, said: “This was a shocking case of animal cruelty.
“The pain and mental suffering these dogs endured while in Shaun McCourt’s care is unthinkable.
“These poor animals suffered the terrible consequences of McCourt’s appalling neglect.
“The law protects animals from harm and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) will continue to work robustly to ensure anyone who breaks the law faces prosecutorial action.”
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