26-week jail term for man who stabbed his dog four times and cut his throat

A man has been jailed for 26 weeks after he stabbed his pet dog four times with a knife and slashed his throat.

Johnathan Nicholas Holder, of Derwent Road, Chester, was also given a lifetime ban on keeping all animals after he was found guilty of one animal welfare offence when he appeared at Warrington Magistrates’ Court.

The hearing was told his mother, Tracey Holder, returned home after she had been away for a couple of days and discovered Tyrone's body on February 16 in the garden.

She reported the matter to Cheshire police who attended the address and they called the RSPCA to help with the investigation.

Officers found the bloodied body of the 11-year-old brindle Staffordshire bull terrier hidden at the bottom of the garden behind a tyre and a sandpit lid.

A large wound could be clearly seen across the whole of the back of the dog’s neck which appeared deep and was red with blood. 

There were also blood splatters found around the garden area and patio and in some areas of the house. Bloodied clothes belonging to Holder were also found in and near the washing machine.

Holder, who was at the property while his mum was away, was arrested by police. 

During an interview the following day he said he had no memory of the weekend as he had been drinking heavily. He denied killing Tyrone but said another animal was responsible for his death. 

RSPCA Inspector Pamela Bird took the dog’s body to a vet’s for examination and it was found that there were five sharp trauma wounds which occurred on his neck, shoulder and left forelimb and were believed to have been caused with a knife.

The vet concluded it would have taken several minutes to die or even hours for Tyrone to die as the wounds had missed main arteries.

She said: “The duration of this suffering will be a minimum of a couple of minutes to give time for the dog to walk or stagger about the lounge, kitchen, patio and garden areas haemorrhaging as he was moved around. 

“However, it is more likely he suffered for a longer period of several minutes up to a maximum of four hours as none of the major blood vessels of the neck or his trachea were involved in his injuries.”

The court heard how Holder had a fresh dog bite mark on his hand which could have provided a motive for the attack - but he denied this and said it was caused by a broken glass.

He then claimed someone else had killed the dog in a “revenge attack” and denied the animal welfare charge but he was found guilty by magistrates.

Inspector Pamela Bird said: “This was an upsetting case to deal with. It was clear from the vet report that Tyrone’s death was prolonged and that he suffered a great deal.”

In sentencing, on Thursday November 5, the court was told this was a case of “absolute cruelty” and not only did Holder inflict the stab wounds he denied his involvement and tried to shift responsibility onto an unknown attacker. 

The offence he was found guilty of :

• “That on or about February 16, 2020 at Derwent Road, Chester, you did cause unnecessary suffering to a certain animal namely a brindle Staffordshire bull terrier type dog known as Tyrone (Ty) , by inflicting five sharp trauma wounds to the dog which resulted in blood loss and death and you knew or ought reasonably to have known that your act would have that effect or be likely to do so, contrary to Section 4 (1) of the Animal Welfare Act 2006”.