Oswestry man who killed puppy and kitten is jailed for 12 weeks

Quade Roy Adams, 22, of Station Road, Weston Rhyn near Oswestry, was also banned from keeping animals for at least five years.

Following a trial last week Adams was found guilty of three charges of causing unneccessary suffering to an animal by district judge Nigel Cadbury.

Passing sentence yesterday at Shrewsbury Magistrates Court District Judge Cadbury told Adams: "You had inflicted very serious injuries on a cat and a dog. There were two charges relating to the cat, so this was not a one-off incident. On the second occasion those injuries resulted in the death of both of these animals from blunt trauma and the most likely cause of death was by kicking or stamping.

"Therefore I find that you intended to cause really serious harm in temper or anger because they were fouling inside the home in which you were living.

"I find that you did not intend to kill or torture these animals, but you did intend to cause really serious injury to them in that moment of anger and temper."

The judge sentenced Adams to 12 weeks in jail and ordered him to pay a £500 contribution towards the costs of the case on his release from prison.

He placed Quade under a ban on keeping or owning animals, and in having any arrangement in which he would be in control of or influence the way animals are kept. The ban will remain in place until a further court order is made, but must run for at least five years.

The case had been brought to court by the RSPCA after the animals - a five-month-old chocolate brown toy poodle called Emi and a seven-month-old Ragdoll cat named Toast - died on February 13 last year.

Post mortem tests had showed that the Emi suffered a chipped eye socket, broken pelvis and three broken ribs consistent with being caused by blows by a blunt instrument. Toast had suffered abdominal injures and a ruptured spleen consistent with being kicked or stamped on.

Their owner Anika Kloska told an earlier hearing she and the animals had been living with Adams and said he had been violent to them when they messed in the house.

"On one occasion he picked Toast up, hit him on the head and threw him to the ground," she said.

On February 13 she was on a work placement when Adams text her to say something bad had happened. She went home to find Adams and the dog on the floor. He told her it had collapsed and he had given it mouth to mouth resuscitation.

"She looked lifeless," she said. "He handed her to me and she made a noise. I took her to the vets, they gave her a shot of adrenaline but it was too late."

She later discovered that the cat had also died. The two buried the cat by the side of the canal in Weston Rhyn.

Staff at Castle Vets, Chirk, contacted the RSPCA about the dog and a post mortem revealed the injuries. RSPCA inspector Chris Dunbar said he and a colleague went to the canal to find the body of the cat and exhume it.

Post-mortem tests showed that the injuries to the dog had been consistent with blows by a blunt instrument. The cat had suffered abdominal injures and a ruptured spleen consistent with being kicked or stamped on.

Following sentence, RSPCA Inspector Chris Dunbar said: "I'm very pleased with the outcome. The injuries to the animals were horrific. There's no other way we could have dealt with this situation.

"I'm very pleased with the disqualification. That's the main reason for us to bring prosecutions. That's the only way we can prevent further incidents of cruelty."