AN ARREST warrant has been issued for a Newtownbutler man convicted of causing suffering to one dog and failing to look after 12 more.
Nigel Leonard of Wattlebridge Road failed to appear at Enniskillen Magistrates Court today (Wednesday) where he was due to contest one charge of causing causing unnecessary suffering to a dog, and 12 counts of failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the needs of a dog.
The charges all related to July 20, 2021 at Trivally Road in Macken, and concerned a number of different types of dog including female hound, a crossbreed, a Lurcher, and a Beagle.
The case went ahead in Lenoard’s absence and he was found guilty on all counts.
The court heard a Council animal welfare officer first visited a site on the Trivally Road on July 15, 2021, and returned on July 20 with two PSNI officers to inspect the site fully after finding the dogs living in poor conditions.
The officers found 12 dogs in a number of tin and wooden pens in field, no where near a dwelling from which someone could check on them.
The dogs were without adequate access water during as the hottest spell of that year, with the temperature in the pens measured at 23 degrees shortly before 11.30 in the morning.
The conditions were described to the court as “horrendous”, with an overpowering smell in the first pen the officers examined. The smell was so strong only one of the officers was able to enter the pen, while in another pen there was no light so the officers were unable to see if the dogs had any bedding or water.
In some of the pens, rotten meat and offal was found on the ground, which the dogs were walking through.
One of the dogs, a female hound, had a large polyp protruding from its rear end and when later examined by a vet it was found to be in the early stages of kidney failure, believed to be the result of dehydration. Another dog had an injury to its eye.
One of the officers said the conditions the dogs were living in were the worst they had encountered during their nine years in the job,
The dogs were seized by the Council, received veterinary attention, and have since been rehomed.
Leonard identified himself as their owner in voicemails he left objecting to the animals being confiscated.
Counsel for the Council indicated it would be seeking an confiscation order to have Leonard banned from owning any animals in future, and to have around 20 dogs he still has in his possession confiscated from him.
An arrest warrant was issued to bring him before the court to have the orders issued.
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