Man who drugged and suffocated dog then buried it could face jail (From Thisisdorset)

Man who drugged and suffocated dog then buried it could face jail

8:00am Thursday 9th September 2010 in

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A man who drugged his pet dog with anti-depressants before suffocating the animal and burying it in a back garden could be jailed.

Darron Goodwin, 41, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a black Staffordshire bull terrier type dog called Bilbo when he appeared at Bournemouth Magistrates Court yesterday.

Chairman of the bench Richard Lac-ey told Goodwin that the “distressing case” attracted a range of sentencing options, including custody.

“While we are going to indicate a high-level community penalty, I cannot rule out the sentencing bench considering all available options,” he said.

The court heard how RSPCA inspectors had been directed to a hole covered by breeze blocks in the back garden of a house in South Kinson Drive, Bournemouth, from where they had recovered Bilbo’s body.

Prosecuting, Iain O’Donnell told the court that Goodwin had admitted to RSPCA inspectors feeding Bilbo 10 tablets of Clonazepam – an anti-depressant for humans.

Mr O’Donnell said the dog had then been wrapped in a towel and suffocated and had emptied his bladder in a final “fight or flight” mechanism.

He said the tablets were later found undisolved in Bilbo’s stomach by vet David Holah, and said the drug had not reduced the animal’s suffering.

Mr O’Donnell presented photos to the magistrates which, he said, showed the dog’s lungs had collapsed during the asphyxiation. There was also bruising on its back from shoulders to tail. Defending, Harvey Withecombe said his client had owned about 100 dogs since the age of 10 and had never before faced accusations of cruelty to his pets.

He said Goodwin had owned Bilbo from a puppy and had tried to re-home him several times, but on each occasion the dog had been returned.

Only then, said Mr Withecombe, had his client considered euthanising the dog, and had first conducted research on the internet to find the most humane method.

Mr Withecombe said Goodwin had told him if he had not cared for the dog, then he would simply have disposed of its carcass in a rubbish bin. Goodwin will be sentenced on Wednesday September 29.