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Man
jailed for stabbing whippet to death
A MAN was jailed last week for stabbing his brother’s pet
dog to death in a drunken attack he claimed not to remember.
Carl Donoghue, 30, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire thrust a
five inch kitchen knife into the chest of his brother’s
black and white whippet Molly after downing several cans of
extra strong lager. Donoghue later told RSPCA inspectors that
he had heard the dog yelp but could remember nothing else of
the incident.
"I had nothing against Molly," he said. "It was
down to the drink. If I’m really drunk, I don’t know
what I’m like."
Doncaster magistrates heard how the attack took place at Donoghue’s
family home last June. Donoghue claimed he went to sleep after
his heavy drinking session and recalled nothing other than hearing
a yelp. He later awoke to find ten month-old Molly’s bloodstained
body on the bed.
David Branscombe, prosecuting for the RSPCA said that a post
mortem examination had revealed that the dog had bled to death
from a single, deep stab wound to her chest.
"It would have needed to have been delivered with some
considerable force," he said.
Nigel Lumley, defending Donoghue said that his client could
not find words to describe the disbelief and abhorrence he felt
over the killing.
"He is not a wicked person," said Mr Lumley. "He
knows in his heart that he is a loving person. He loved the
dog and took it out for walks. It was a one-off moment of madness
which could never be repeated."
He added that Donoghue had twice attempted to harm himself and
he asked for any jail sentence to be deferred so that his client
could receive treatment for his "significant alcohol problem."
However, the bench decided that the best way for Donoghue to
receive treatment for his alcohol problem would be to deprive
him of it for a long time.
They sentenced Donoghue to five months’ imprisonment for
causing the dog unnecessary suffering and also banned him for
life from keeping any kind of animal.
Donoghue’s brother Liam, 20, refused to comment on the
case. However, RSPCA Inspector Justin Le Mausier welcomed the
sentence, adding that the killing had deeply upset Liam.
"It as an act of cruelty which not only caused a great
deal of suffering to a young animal but also caused distress
to her owner," he said.
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