Sunderland man jailed and banned from keeping animals for life after he beat a Yorkshire Terrier to death

Daniel Calvan Gair, of Hastings Street in the Hendon area of Sunderland, was jailed for 18 weeks at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, October 12, after being found guilty following a trial of causing unnecessary suffering to the dog at an earlier hearing on August 31.

The court had heard how Gair’s then partner woke up on October 5, 2019, to find Yorkshire Terrier Billy dead at the side of her bed.

She wrapped him in a blanket, placed him in a box and took him to a nearby vets who were suspicious of the nature of Billy’s injuries and reported it to the RSPCA.

A post-mortem report revealed Billy had suffered collapsed lungs, damage to his heart, six fractured ribs, a protruding left eye and bruises on the underside of his neck, chest and head.

Gair denied harming billy, claiming that he had found him with diarrhoea on some of his fur so had washed him in the shower earlier that morning and dried him with a towel before going to work.

However, when Billy was found, his coat was dry and not wet or even damp as might have been expected.

An expert veterinary witness with experience in non-accidental injuries concluded all of Billy’s injuries were acute and consistent with blunt force trauma and occurred shortly before he died.

The vet stated: “The injuries sustained were very severe including six fractured ribs and a number of areas of bruising. All these injuries are consistent with blunt force trauma.

“Rib fractures are a common abuse finding in animal abuse cases. Rib fractures may occur due to the focal application of force, which includes the animal being struck, kicked, stomped or thrown against a blunt object.

“The injuries detailed within the post mortem report cannot be explained by the dog having injured himself while in the home environment and are consistent with at least four applications of blunt force.”

In addition to the 18 weeks prison time, Gair was given a lifetime ban on owning animals which he cannot content for ten years and ordered to pay £650 in costs.

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