A woman who was captured on video footage beating and kicking her dog in several locations in Milton Keynes has been handed a life-time ban from keeping animals after a prosecution by the RSPCA.
Hayley Smith of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to three offences under the Animal Welfare Act and appeared for sentencing at Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court on July 13.
As well as the disqualification from owning animals, Smith also received an eight-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months and was ordered to complete 25 rehabilitation activity days.
The court heard how the RSPCA launched an investigation after footage of Smith’s abuse of her Staffordshire bull terrier, called Angel, was captured by several members of the public.
RSPCA inspector Prisca Giddens said in a statement to the court that in September last year she analysed video clips that were sent to the charity by someone who saw a black and white Staffordshire bull terrier being beaten in the city.
There were reports of similar incidents taking place from the end of July, 2022 in which a woman was seen hitting her dog. A member of the public, who had recognised the defendant as living in a flat in the Fairfields area of the city, took several pieces of video footage of her interaction with the canine, some of which showed the dog being dragged along on a lead and appearing to be lame.
Another member of the public captured two pieces of video of the dog being attacked several times by a woman at a bus stop. It showed the dog being kicked in the chest and the chin and also stamped on before the woman lashed out so the dog’s head hit the frame of the bus stop.
Inspector Giddens said: “I recognised the dog and people in the video as linking to an incident where other members of the public had also witnessed a dog being beaten.”
On October 6 last year the defendant was found by the police, who seized Angel and placed her in the care of the RSPCA.
A vet said in an expert report presented to the court that he was satisfied that the dog had suffered on a number of occasions because of physical abuse, while she was not provided with any vet care for her lameness.
“On the number of occasions that the dog was physically abused, she can be seen to be very passive and does not attempt to bite, escape or resist the abuse,” said the vet. “The dog would have experienced pain as a result of the physical abuse. She was also observed to be lame on her front left leg.”
In mitigation, the court was told Smith was “very remorseful” for abusing her dog. She was said to have suffered mental abuse from her former partner and was homeless, while she had also had problems with drug addiction. The magistrates told Smith to pay court costs of £100 and a victim surcharge of £114.
Angel has spent time in a foster home since her ordeal and will be rehomed by the RSPCA. Speaking after the sentencing, inspector Giddens said: “This poor dog was picked on relentlessly by the defendant and she must have been in fear of her all the time.
“Angel was cruelly beaten on multiple occasions, but without the help of the public we wouldn’t have been able to have prosecuted Smith as we eventually were able to link the assaults. We had so many calls from people who had witnessed the mistreatment of the dog over a period of months and we went to several different locations to try and track the defendant down. Angel is a sweetie, a really lovely dog who has been looked after by fosterers and now we will find her a loving new home.”
