CONVICTED (2023) | farmer Kim Norman Rendall, born c. 1958, of 23 Southover Road, High Littleton, Bristol BS39 6HR – dragged a dog behind a car and failed to seek treatment for the animal’s horrific injuries.
Rendall admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the dog – a nine-year-old white husky named Daisy – after she was dragged along a road by a rope attached to his car.
Dashcam footage showed the dog in a state of “complete distress” as she was dragged “bouncing” along the road while “scrabbling to try and stay up”
The court heard how drivers pressed their horns and flashed their lights as they watched Daisy dragged down the road while tied with rope to the rear of a red Nissan Micra.
On hearing one of the motorists shouting ‘dog, dog’ out of a window, a woman – who was with her own dogs – flagged the car down.
At that point, Rendall stopped and was swiftly confronted by distressed locals as Daisy haemorrhaged blood onto the road and attempted to stand up.
One woman said she’d take Daisy to the vet for urgent care if Rendall was not going to. He smirked and laughed, saying: ‘I’ll do what I want, it’s my dog.’
When police went to check on the dog’s welfare, they found Rendall having a cup of tea and getting his hair cut by his sister. He refused to tell officers where the dog was.
One officer was heard on bodycam asking him “where is that dog?” numerous times but Rendall did not answer directly, saying “I don’t like this at all. I don’t like this at f**king all”.
In custody, it was noted that his trainers were soaked in blood. He was described as rude and aggressive towards officers when they booked him in.
The court was told he continued to refuse to tell officers where Daisy was when being questioned at the police station.
In the meantime, 18 police officers and a drone unit were deployed in a bid to locate Daisy and get her the life-saving treatment they believed she needed.
Following a two and a half hour hunt in the Somerset countryside, she was located in a cow barn in Gossard Lane, High Littleton.
She was rushed to Rosemary Lodge Veterinary Hospital in Bath in a police vehicle travelling on blue lights and sirens.
Vets said she sustained complicated and traumatic injuries – including both hind legs suffering full-thickness skin loss and an open fracture of a foot.
Despite the best efforts of vets to treat Daisy, her pain could not be controlled and she was put to sleep nine days later.
Rendall admitted failing to protect the dog from pain, injury and suffering and failing to arrange urgently-required veterinary attention.
The prosecution was brought by the RSPCA.
The court was told that Daisy had belonged to Rendall’s son.
The court was shown videos of the incident and photographs of Daisy’s injuries.
Some in the court, including witnesses from the day, could not watch the screens when these were shown because they were so graphic.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, one witness said she had “never seen an animal with such serious injuries” and had suffered from nightmares since.
Another said they had been signed off work to help them sleep and still were “getting flashbacks to that day months later”.
PC Natalie Cosgrove, then animal welfare officer for Avon and Somerset Police, was at the vets when Daisy was brought in and interviewed Rendall the following day.
Officer Cosgrove read her own statement in court, where she said in 15 years of policing it was “the worst thing I have ever seen” and it will haunt her forever.
She said: “I was shocked at what I saw. I was horrified and physically sick that a nine-year-old dog was subjected to this cruelty.”
She said: “When I first saw the injuries I welled up in tears.
‘I felt shocked, I couldn’t sleep and I cried… I hugged my own dog crying in sympathy for Daisy’, she told the court in a victim person statement.
“Rendall showed no remorse for his actions.
“He was almost smirking in interview.”
She said: ‘I just felt incredibly sorry for her, that a human let her down so badly. This is one of those jobs that will haunt me forever.’
In tears, RSPCA Inspector Kim Walters comforted visibly upset PC Cosgrove in the public gallery as the case continued.
Prosecutor Lundi Meyer told the magistrates that Rendall’s refusal to provide Daisy’s whereabouts was ‘sadistic’ and only prolonged her suffering.
Rendall claimed the dog was tied up in the boot of the car but must have jumped or fallen out and he did not see or hear the car behind flashing and beeping at him to stop.
His representative in court described the incident as “poor judgement on that day” and said “he has learning difficulties and hearing problems”.
They said the incident had “devastated” Rendall’s family.
Magistrates said Rendall had shown a “deliberate disregard for the welfare of Daisy” and that “a haircut and a cup of tea were a higher priority” for him.
Sentencing | 8-month suspended prison sentence; 300 hours of unpaid work; £5000 costs and a 20-year ban on keeping animals, apart from cattle and koi fish.
Additional Information
Rendall is understood to be employed by Frome Livestock Auctioneers.
