CONVICTED (2017) | Ian Czajkowskyj (since deceased), born c. 1960, of Elgin Street, Ashton-under-Lyne OL7 – left his dog to die an agonising death in a boiling hot car while he drank in the pub
Ian Czajkowskyj admitted causing unnecessary suffering after locking his dog inside his vehicle in 35.2C heat while he drank in a nearby pub.
He had already been warned twice by the RSPCA.
But on June 19, 2017, police discovered seven-year-old Staffy Carlo dead in the back of Czajkowskyj’s white Fiat 500.
He had died of a massive blood clot brought on by severe heatstroke.
Mark Harper, prosecuting, said: “It is likely that Carlo was subjected to monumental suffering for a minimum of one hour but for a maximum period of nine hours.
“This was a clear case of the owner placing his own needs before those of the animal, especially because he had been warned before.”
On April 4, 2017, an RSPCA inspector found Carlo locked in Czajkowskyj’s car and left an animal welfare warning notice on his windscreen, although the vehicle was in the shade and the dog was asleep.
Then on May 26 police were called about a dog in the same car at Ashton Leisure Centre car park.
Members of the public had managed to open the door and release Carlo, who they said appeared “hot and bothered”.
Czajkowskyj had been drinking in a nearby pub and on his return was warned by police.
But around 10pm on June 19 Carlo was found dead in the car in Ashton.
Mr Harper said: “Temperatures that day were very high, up to 35.2C and with an average of 28C.
“There was a two to three-inch gap in the window.
“The dog was slumped in the back seat and there was a lot of blood.
“It appeared the dog had been dead for some time because rigor mortis had set in and there was a strong smell. Both the animal and the car were warm.
“Officers said there was saliva on the window.”
Shortly Czajkowskyj returned to the scene and stated he had been in the pub “at least a few hours”.
He later said he had parked the car around 4.30pm and gone shopping, then gone for a drink.
He believed he had left the dog in the car for only up to one-and-a-quarter hours.
In an interview with police he said he suffered from memory loss due to a heart condition and the medication he took for that condition and depression.
A vet who examined the body concluded Carlo had died of disseminated intravascular coagulation, the widespread formation of blood clots, caused by severe heatstroke.
The dog suffered breathing difficulties, suffocation and respiratory failure.
Chairman of the bench Fiona Maynard told Czajkowskyj: “You deliberately left this animal to suffer despite previous warnings. You left a dog in a vehicle in severe heat which resulted in its death.”
After the hearing, RSPCA inspector Nicola Waterworth said: “It is horrible to think what Carlo would have gone through and it is sad to think that we are still having cases where animals are being left in hot cars.
“People have got to realise that even on a sunny yet cloudy day the inside of a car can still become the temperature of an oven.
“If they are in any doubt they should keep the animal out.”
Sentencing: 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. Ordered to pay a total of £415. Banned from keeping animals for life.