CRUELTY TO DOG

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29220, 2 June 1960, Page 10

CRUELTY TO DOG

Fine Of £5 Imposed

A youth drove off and left a fox terrier bitch, about two years old, screaming in pain after it had been shot twice in the neck and once in the shoulder with a .22 rifle on the evening of Good Friday in an area of scrub off Dyers road, Bromley, it was stated in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Kenneth James Rouse, aged 18, a labourer, who is married with two children, was fined £5 on a charge of wantonly and unreasonably causing unnecessary suffering to the dog by firing three shots into it and failing to ascertain if it was dead.

Rouse, who was represented by Mr G. S. Brockett, pleaded not guilty. Mr D. J. Hewitt prosecuted for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Mr E. A. Lee, S.M., was on the Bench. On the evening of April 15 Rouse took two fox terrier dogs in his car to an area of scrub off Dyers road, Mr Hewitt said. He let the two dogs lobse and when one was about 25 yards away he fired three shots from a .22 calibre rifle, hitting the dog in the vicinity of the neck. Rouse did not examine the dog to see if it was dead. Shots Heard When the shots were fired they were heard by a witness at his residence about 400 yards away, said Mr Hewitt. He heard the dog screaming in agony and went to investigate. On his arrival in Dyers road he saw the car being driven off and the dog still screaming. The witness called on the driver to stop but to no avail. It was almost dark at the time, Mr Hewitt said. About 8 p.ffi., with the assistance of another neighbour, the dog was killed with a shot from a .303 rifle. The dog was lying in agony in the scrub for well over an hour. “The crux of the whole case is that Rouse must have known the dog was not dead because of its screaming,” said Mr Hewitt. “This screaming was so bad that it attracted the attention of a neighbour some 400 yards away.” Evidence for the prosecution was given by Maurice Victor Bettridge, a firewood merchant, of Bromley, John Edward Hopkins, a poultry farmer, and Barry Righton, an airways clerk. Dogs Were Pets

Rouse had two dogs which were pets, Mr Brockett said. On the morning of Good Friday they were found to have killed two fowls and he decided that they would have to be destroyed. Rouse had not wantonly and unreasonably caused the dog unnecessary suffering and was perfectly justified in assuming the dog was dead, said Mr Brockett. He had considered it wafc his duty to kill the dogs after he found they had been savaging fowls.

Rouse, giving evidence on his own behalf, said he had owned the two fox terrier dogs ever since they were pups. He took them down to Dyers road about 7.20 p.m. when it was getting dark. He shot one dog and it howled so he shot it twice more and it fell over and lay still. He looked at it and it appeared to be dead. The other dog ran off into the scrub.

“I am satisfied the defendant knew the dog was alive when he left it,” the Magistrate said, after reviewing the evidence.