'Obvious' dogs seised in Telford were in need of treatment, court told

Mr Paul Taylor, prosecuting, made the comments during his closing speech in the trial of Samuel Boylett and Mark Paddock, who are charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Nine terrier and lurcher-type dogs were seized from Samuel Boylett's home in Burtondale, Brookside, in Telford, on March 28, 2014.

Mr Taylor told Telford Magistrates Court on Friday that some of them had injuries to their face or paw and a vet had given "clear, consistent evidence" that some had been suffering.

He suggested to District Judge Nigel Cadbury that the wounds were caused on March 23, 2014.

Mr Taylor said Boylett admitted the animals had been "ratting" at the weekend, although he suggested the dogs had actually been fighting with wild animals.

He added: "It was a deliberate decision not to take the animals to the vet."

Talking about one of the dogs found with a facial injury at Boylett's address, he said: "It's absolutely screamingly obvious that wound needed veterinary treatment."

In her closing speech, Ms Sara-Lise Howe, defending Boylett, suggested when the dogs were examined by the vet after they were seized their injuries were minor and not painful.

She said if the injuries had been caused five days before they were seized the wounds were healing well, adding: "The prosecution cannot say any treatment the owner is entitled to give to his animal has been given inappropriately."

She added: "The dogs were of a proper weight. They were fit and healthy dogs with some knocks, some scars and some healing wounds consistent with the work they do."

Mr Nigel Weller, for Paddock, said any injuries to his dog would have happened when it was being cared for by someone else and there was no evidence to suggest how the dog appeared the following day.

Boylett, 33, denies five charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal in 2013 and 2014. Paddock, 45, of no fixed address, denies a single charge of causing unnecessary suffering in 2013.

District Judge Cadbury is due to announce his verdict at Shrewsbury Magistrates Court on February 16.