A man has been banned from having pets for five years after being found guilty of verbally harassing and terrorizing his dog.
23-year-old Joshua Ponsford has been found guilty of an animal welfare offense after recordings of him reprimanding his dog have surfaced.
As RSPCA, prosecuting, claimed, the young man from the UK repeatedly shouted and screamed at his dog, Lulu the Rottweiler.
In one of the recordings obtained by the animal welfare charity, Ponsford was heard calling Lulu a “dirty little mutt” as he commanded her to go to her bed.
“Get in your f***ing bed now, go in your bed now, now, now you f***ing stay there. You dirty little mutt,” Ponsford said before the dog was heard yelping following the sounds of thudding. “You and your f***ing ball dog. I’ve had enough of all your hiding toys.”
In another recording, the 23-year-old was once again heard reprimanding his dog before Lulu was heard barking and whimpering.
The court also heard a 17-second recording in which Lulu is heard yelping before her owner tells her: “I’ll f***ing ave you.”
While the former dog owner pleaded guilty to verbally harassing his dog, he denied physically harming Lulu. He has since been banned from keeping pets for five years and ordered to undergo 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirements.
“It is my expert opinion that undoubtedly Lulu suffered as a result of mental fear and terror as a result of the verbal abuse from Mr Ponsford as demonstrated on the audio recordings,” veterinary surgeon David Martin said of the case.
“It is well known and understood by the public that dogs respond to the tone and volume of the voice and that dogs are susceptible and will suffer from fear and distress if verbally abused particularly if this is recurrent or long lasting.
“(…) Physical and verbal abuse is no longer acceptable as part of dog training as it has been shown to be both ineffective and to cause the dog long term distress.”
Following the ruling, Lulu has been taken into the care of RSPCA who revealed that she will be found a loving home.
Replaced!