Agonising death: Shadow was found with a gaping wound to the neck as well as stab wounds to the chestA man who slit his puppy's throat and left her to bleed to death was jailed for five months yesterday and banned from keeping animals for life.
Robert Humphries, 40, did not want to pay a £70 bill to have the family pet put down by a vet and did the job himself in his garden.
Magistrates were told the former abattoir butcher used two kitchen knives to kill the six-month-old lurcher before dumping her in a wheelie bin.
Interviewed by RSPCA officers, he said that when the dog, named Shadow, crawled away whimpering and bleeding after he cut her throat, he stabbed her 'between the ribs' to 'finish her off'.
A vet said the dog would have taken between 10 and 30 minutes to die in 'extreme pain'.
Cruel: Robert Humphries arriving at court in his wheelchair before he was jailed for five monthsThe RSPCA discovered the horrific scene at Humphries's home in Taunton, Somerset, after being alerted by the vet's receptionist.
Neil Scott, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told Taunton Deane Magistrates' Court that Humphries had gone to a vet in June wanting the dog rehomed or put down, saying it had attacked his 19-month-old daughter.
He claimed he could not afford to put her down, but when told it could be done for free, he said he would return with his pet.
But when he tried to do this, he claimed, Shadow attacked him and he decided to kill her.
Savage: One of the knives used by Robert Humphries when he slit the throat of his puppy and left her to bleed to deathHumphries, who is on disability benefits, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the dog.
Magistrates were told that Humphries used two kitchen knives to slit Shadow's throat.
Humphries claimed that when the dog crawled away whimpering and bleeding heavily he stabbed her repeatedly to speed up her death.
When the RSPCA arrived at his home they found the dog with her legs tied together in a plastic bag dumped in a wheelie bin.
source :dailymail
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