CONVICTED (2018) | Rudy Dear, born 3 November 1978, and wife Leanna Dear, born 7 December 1980, of St Aelreds Mews, Derwenthorpe, York YO31 0RW – neglected a Lhasa Apso so badly she was almost blind.
Lhasa Apso Lady was found by a visiting council officer with eye ulcers and infected eyelids.
Her eye sores were weeping pus, which matted the fur to her face, and she was covered in fleas and lice.
Lady was nursed back to health and rehomed
Her owners, Rudy and Leanna Dear, who have links to the travelling community, pleaded guilty to failing to look after Lady, and causing her unnecessary suffering.
In mitigation, they said a family bereavement meant that Lady had been left with Mr Dear who did not do all he should to look after her.
Lady, who has been renamed, is now in a loving new home.
Sentencing: Rudy Dear – 200 hours of unpaid work; £85 court surcharge Leanna Dear – £120 fine and a £30 court surcharge. Each must also pay £500 in prosecution costs. Both were banned from keeping animals for ten years.
CONVICTED (2018) | Robert McKie, born 03/01/1992, of Woodside Road, Chilwell, Beeston NG9 5GX – killed his pet cat after leaving her tethered in a filled bath
Cat killer Robert McKie is a serving soldier with the British Army
Soldier Robert McKie claimed his cat died accidentally after he left her alone in the bath and went out to collect his wife.
Paul Wright, prosecuting, said the cat had “urinated and defecated” in McKie’s home. He put her in a dog crate for 24 hours on the day before she was found dead at the house.
The cat’s body was exhumed after McKie’s wife called the RSPCA to say her husband “kept it in a cage and killed it while washing it in the bath.”
A post mortem found bruising to the abdominal area. Pressure to the right jugular vein had caused protrusion of the eye. Asphyxia was not ruled out.
When questioned by the RSPCA, McKie said he placed the cat in the bath and put soap on her fur to wash it. He then left her tethered with a dog lead and went to collect his wife.
“When they returned home, he said it was hanging over the side of the bath, that it had got out of the bath and the lead was attached,” said Mr Wright.
McKie pleaded guilty to failing to provide a suitable environment for the cat on July 4, 2017, and causing unnecessary suffering the next day.
He told the court: “I am sorry for what happened to my cat. In hindsight, I wish I had put it back in the crate.
“I left her and everything was calm. She had calmed down. I didn’t see it as a problem.
“As I started washing the cat, it will be clinging onto anything with everything she has got.
“All I can say is that it was in no way malicious. With hindsight, I should have left it in the crate.”
He added that when a previous cat suffered a leg fracture, a vet told him that it should be kept in a crate for three months. He said: “That was strict advice from the vets themselves.”
McKie told the JPs that he served three years in the Army. He was accompanied in court by sergeant major Sean Ryan, who said that he would lose his job and house if sent to prison.
“The award of a non-custodial sentence would not necessarily mean that he will be retained in the Army. That matter would be decided by his commanding officer or a higher authority,” said Mr Ryan.
Sentencing: McKie was ordered to pay £300 costs to the RSPCA and a government tax of £85. He was banned for five years from keeping any animals (expired January 2023).
CONVICTED (2018) | Clint Rimanoczy, born 6 February 1989, of Milton Close, Horton, Slough SL3 9PP – cut off the ears and tails of two puppies
Clint Rimanoczy (misspelt as Rimanaczy in linked article) was sentenced at Slough Magistrates’ Court on Friday, December 8, 2017, for carrying out a prohibited procedure on an animal.
The charge relates to an incident on November 23, 2016, involving the cutting off of the ears and tails of two cane corso puppies.
Rimanoczy also admitted to a separate charge of removing whole/part of a dog’s tail and a third charge of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal by failing to seek veterinary assistance.
Sentencing | 18 weeks in jail. Costs/charges of £7,056.28. Banned from keeping animals for 20 years. Deprivation order on a dog and her two puppies.
