A man who savagely beat his pet pup before throwing it on a fire called the ISPCA to blame it on somebody else.
Dog-killer Christopher Foy pleaded guilty to kicking his dog ‘Buttons’ up in the air like a football on the Main Street of Mountcharles last January.
Father-of-one Foy, aged 27, was yesterday jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to cruelty to animals and making threats to kill.
But brazen Foy tried to blame the little Yorkshire Terrier’s gruesome death on the father of his ex-partner.
Foy called the ISPCA to make a complaint that his dog had been attacked and killed by Cyprian Gallagher.
Inspector Kevin McGinley attended Foy’s flat at Lower Main Street on January 27th last to see the remains of the 12-month-old pup.
Foy told the ISPCA man that his dog was dead and he wanted something done about it.
However, accompanied by a local Garda, the ISPCA Inspector noticed a coal fire had been lit on grass close to where the dog had been found outside Foy’s rented flat.
Foy was later arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to the horrific crime.
In court he said that he would never knowingly hurt his little dog and blamed a week of destruction during which he took up to 50 tablets a day for his depraved act.
The court heard evidence from Foy’s neighbour, 77-year-old Carrie Pringle, who saw the accused man kicking the defenseless creature into the air like a football.
As well as other offenses, Foy was given an 18-month sentence for cruelty to animals and banned from keeping or working with animals for the rest of his life.
Speaking after the case, ISPCA Inspector McGinley congratulated Garda James Connolly and Sgt Oliver Devanney in assisting the ISPCA in this successful investigation and also Nicholas McGarvey, a vet with the Old Church Veterinary Clinic in Donegal Town.
This particular case is the second custodial sentence imposed under the Animal Health and Welfare Act of 2013 and both were in Co Donegal.