CONVICTED (2017) | Richard Finch, born 18/04/1956, of Geneva Drive, Redcar TS10 1JP, and Michael Heathcock, born 1957, of Ontario Crescent, Redcar TS10 1JR – hammered a nail into the head of a poorly elderly dog and buried him alive
In a case brought by the RSPCA, Heathcock admitted driving a nail into his pet dog’s skull as well as failing to provide veterinary care and attention for him. Finch admitted his part in helping his friend.
The stricken dog was discovered by a walker who heard whimpering from a mound in Redcar’s Kirkleatham Woods in October 2016..
The horrified walker rushed Scamp to a vet, who discovered three other puncture wounds to his head and described it as the worse case of animal cruelty he had ever seen.
Prosecutor John Ellwood warned Teesside Magistrates Court that the facts of the case were “extremely distressing”.
When interviewed, Heathcock and Finch told RSPCA inspectors Scamp had started to go blind, deaf and incontinent.
And they thought killing him was “the right thing to do”, said Mr Ellwood.
They took a claw hammer and nail to Kirkleatham Woods , Heathcock carrying Scamp in his arms.
The dog’s owner then killed Scamp while Finch looked on.
Finch informed inspectors that 45 years ago at agricultural college he had learned about killing animals. He said it was his idea to use the nail.
“He then remembered that they had taken a spade with them but it was difficult to dig a hole with all the ivy growing. So he dug a hole as deep as they could,” said Mr Ellwood.
Chairwoman of the magistrates bench, Frances Linsley, told them: “This was a barbaric act which was premeditated and caused untold suffering to this defenceless dog.”
Dominic Tate, defending the two men, said Heathcock had owned the dog for 15 to 16 years.
He said the method of killing the dog was “ill-thought out” and “naive”.
He added that Heathcock had been targeted in the last few days, receiving threats and had suffered damage to his property.
Neither had any previous convictions of a similar nature, said Mr Tate, and Heathcock had limited income.
“He was told it was going to cost this amount of money to put the dog down and has made the wrong decision clearly by taking this course of action,” he told the court.
Sentencing: four months each in prison. Total of £315 costs and charges each. Lifetime bans on keeping animals.