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.
