Islington Tribune - News: Nine months jail for dog owner who stabbed collie

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Islington Tribune - by MARK BLUNDEN
Published: 25 May 2007

The dog’s head was slashed and bruised

Nine months jail for dog owner who stabbed collie

A DOG owner who subjected his pet to “severe torture”, stabbing it and breaking its bones, has been jailed for nine months.
Abishai Hayes, 21, of Colley House, on the Hilldrop estate in Holloway, was sentenced at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Monday. He was banned for life from keeping animals.
Unemployed Hayes admitted torturing his 10-month-old collie cross-breed Warrier, and failing to seek veterinary treatment for the dog.
The court heard how the stabbed dog suffered two broken legs, slash wounds to the face, deep knife wounds to its neck, legs, back and chest, broken ribs and bruising to its head.
Hayes also admitted illegal possession of a knife and using it to threaten police officers when he was arrested in September last year.
The court heard that on September 8 Hayes had taken Warrier to the RSPCA’s Harmsworth Animal Hospital in Finsbury Park, claiming it had been in a road traffic accident two days earlier.
But vet Angela Spatz realised immediately that the severe injuries were not consistent with the owner’s story.
Photographs taken of Warrier while he was in surgery, including X-rays, showed the dog had been subjected to “severe torture”.
Hayes was arrested by police and interviewed by RSPCA inspector Simon Osbourne. He maintained the dog received the injuries in a crash.
Hayes initially failed to appear in court, causing an arrest warrant to be served. Warrier has made a complete recovery through the care of RSPCA vets and is now happy in a new home.
Inspector Osbourne said: “This was an absolutely horrendous attack on this poor dog.
“We are pleased the magistrates have treated this with the severity it deserves and imposed a custodial sentence and banned this man from keeping animals for the rest of his life.”

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