Couple convicted with dog living in ‘pitiful existence’

Couple convicted with dog living in ‘pitiful existence’

6 September 2023

A couple who denied animal cruelty charges at Downpatrick Magistrates’ Court on Monday after their dog was discovered malnourished and living in “horrific” conditions were convicted.

Kial Leng and Jacqueline Forbes, of Struell Avenue, Downpatrick, were charged with causing their Japanese  Akita dog to suffer unnecessarily and failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the animal’s welfare.

The dog was subsequently humanely put down after its condition did not improve when it was taken into care.

Forbes was also charged with failing on February 11, 2020 to comply with an improvement notice.

The pair pleaded not guilty to the charges, but Judge Amanda Brady said she had no hesitation in convicting them. 

The court heard the dog was living a “miserable, pitiful existence” on a short chain, with faeces in the yard and was severely malnourished.

Judge Brady said there was “no excuse” for the “pitiable” conditions in which the dog was found by authorities on February 13, 2020.

She noted the the vet scored the dog’s condition “one out of five” and ordered it to be removed from the premises.

Forbes was fined £300 and ordered to pay costs of £690, while Leng is expected to be sentenced on October 19, following a court report. 

Judge Brady told him: “This dog suffered and it is sad and abysmal and you don’t seem to think you have done anything wrong which concerns me greatly.”

Leng told the court that his partner and four young children were undergoing “serious trauma” when the dog became ill, stating the house they were renting had been flooded.

He said the dog had “fallen ill” but claimed it was eating and drinking, but failing to put on weight. 

When cross-examined, Leng laughed at the deion of the conditions as “horrific” on January 28, 2020, when the dog an improvement notice was served. 

He also denied the dog was kept tied up on a short lead, insisting it had come twisted.

Leng further disputed the prosecution assertion that a photograph showed the dog in dirty, wet conditions and with “a lot of dog faeces”.

Leng said he took the dog to a vet who was unable to determine what was causing the crossbreed animal to lose weight so rapidly. 

He also told the court he was unable to return with a stool sample on February 6 as required in order to determine if the dog had an infectious disease. 

The prosecution said the dog weighed 20kg compared to a normal weight of between 30kg and 50kgs, with Leng claiming the animal was a pup and that the higher weight was for a fully grown dog.

The lawyer said the the dog was in a very very poor state and had been kept in an unsuitable environment. 

“The proof is in the pudding,” he added.