CONVICTED (2023) | Peter Paul Toland, born 15 March 1994, of 35 Cornshell Fields, Londonderry BT48 7UG* – beat his dog and buried her as she lay dying.
On March 15, 2023, the American bulldog known as Luna, was brought to a veterinary clinic by police officers after she was found partially buried and under a stone by a member of the public in Ballyarnett Country Park.
She had a facial haematoma as well as fractures which had been caused by blunt force. These were recent, possibly only hours old, and had been caused by a wide object.
Her ears were packed with mud which had been forced into her ears.
She had a body mass of two out of nine, meaning she was severely emaciated with no muscle mass present. Her canine teeth were broken and her pulse was exposed.
The dog was put to sleep on humane grounds.
In his police interview Toland said he’d owned the dog for two years. He said he’d gone to Donegal on March 15 and when he returned home he noticed Luna was missing.
Toland told the police Luna had “dropped a full litter of pups the previous October” but said that he’d never taken the dog to a veterinary clinic nor registered any of his dogs with any clinic.
When the police searched Toland’s home they found three other dogs in the enclosed rear garden. There was no water for them, bedding was inadequate, and the yard contained a considerable amount of faeces.
The prosecutor said Toland told the police Luna had never run away before and that he’d searched for her for one hour after he’d discovered she was missing.
Defence barrister Eoghan Devlin said there was “absolutely no doubt Toland is a terrible owner of animals” but he submitted that the prosecution had failed to prove its case that the defendant had buried the dog alive.
The barrister said the police had failed to properly investigate the incident. They’d neither looked for CCTV footage nor organised an identity line-up for the member of the public who’d found the dog and who had seen two men at the scene.
The District Judge said either the dog got out of the back yard and somebody partially buried her or somebody took the dog from the back yard and did it.
“It is appalling and despicable that this animal was found as it was found. To think that somebody could bury the animal alive is just incomprehensible.
“No person with the slightest shred of decency would do that. But somebody did it, either a person or persons unknown did that, or the dog somehow got out for the first time and then somebody did this to the dog.
“This animal was in an appalling state of health. It was emaciated, there was no muscle mass, it had broken canine teeth, puncture wounds and facial fractures that was the result of blunt trauma with a wide object.
“This animal had suffered a prolonged period of suffering, months long, and that is squarely at the door of the defendant. He took no steps to have the dog treated, no steps to take it to a vet. He took no steps to deal with a severely emaciated dog, he is guilty”, said Mr Magill.
After jailing Toland, who has 46 previous criminal convictions, for nine months, the judge granted a defence application for leave to appeal the sentence and released the defendant on continuing bail.
Sentencing | nine months in jail. Banned from keeping animals for life.
*alternative address: 84 Bloomfield Park, Londonderry BT48 8HB. This is the home of his parents, Clare and Paul Toland, but word on the street is that this is where he’s hiding out.
Update | 8 January 2024
Toland was finally jailed after his appeal over a nine month sentence was dismissed in court.
The sentence amounts to 30% of the maximum available to the court with Toland expected to serve half of that sentence behind bars.
After Toland had spent 25 days on bail, his solicitor asked asked Judge Neil Rafferty KC at Bishop’s Street County Court to dismiss the appeal.
The appeal was dismissed and Toland’s previous sentence was affirmed and he started his nine month jail term today.
Additional Information
A friend of Toland’s, Liam Glennon, was initially implicated alongside him after several witnesses said they saw the pair together on 15 March 2023 near to where Luna was found.
Glennon, who like Toland enjoys persecuting wildlife, denied the allegations and it appears that case against him did not proceed.
I hope he will go hell rot… 🤬🤬🤬
Absolute filth, vile. His parents deserve to be ostracised by society if they have taken him in.
May you rot in hell you fucking evil bastard I hope someone gets you inside for murdering your dog luna I hope the same happens to you in prison scum of the earth
Don’t worry people of Ireland or London aren’t going to forget what you done to luna I hope someone inside wipes that smirk off your face permantley your vile evil bastard hope you get your what you deserve you can run but you can’t hide forever karma will get you in the end