CONVICTED (2019) | Reece Kevin Tommy West, born 25 October 1996, of St John’s Road, Rotherham* – beat a tiny chihuahua so badly he had to be put to sleep
The chihuahua, Mac, suffered severe head injuries resulting in him having to be put to sleep on humane grounds whilst in the care of his owner’s then boyfriend Reece West.
West was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to the dog by subjecting him to non-accidental injury on April 12, 2018.
After the case, RSPCA Inspector Paula Clemence said: “This was a very upsetting case to deal with. The owner of Mac is devastated – as you’d imagine.
“She left for work, and everything was fine, then she got a text from her boyfriend at the time – West – saying something was wrong with Mac and she needed to come back.
“She went straight home and found Mac collapsed, bleeding from his eye and ear and turning blue. She rushed him to a vet where he was placed on oxygen and examined and found to have severe head trauma.
“Extremely sadly, the decision was made to put him to sleep on humane grounds.”
Vet evidence stated that Mac had a large swelling around his left eye, bruising to his ear and across his body including his chest, toes and legs, and had a number of scratches and small abrasions.
A post mortem examination confirmed that Mac had a fractured skull and haemorrhaging to his head and neck consistent with large magnitude blunt force trauma to the area.
West maintained that he had assumed Mac had gone downstairs whilst he was lying in bed, and woke up some time later to find the dog on the bed crying and collapsed.
Both vets who gave evidence felt it was impossible that the dog had sustained the injuries himself, and that a fall from a small height like a bed or sofa or even down the stairs wouldn’t have resulted in head injuries so severe.
RSPCA Inspector Clemence added: “This incident caused a great deal of suffering to Mac, and his death, as well as an enormous amount of upset to his owner whose grief over what happened goes on.”
Sentencing | 26 weeks in jail; total of £915 costs and charges. Disqualified from keeping all animals for life.
*additional addresses for Reece West: Coleridge Road S65 1LG or Larch Mews S65 1NQ
That’s awful the sentence doesn’t justify the crime against this poor wee dog it’s a disgusting sentence. This vile excuse for a human needs to shown an example of this serious crime against this poor defenceless voiceless dog. I am appalled by it..
God forbid that this man ever becomes a father. This offence was born out of a twisted desire to see a tiny creature suffering and this man I believe drew a sick pleasure from seeing this animal sustain injuries that were going to eventually lead to its death.
There is every chance therefore in view of this that he could quite easily do the same to a child to satisfy what is a twisted state of mind.