National: Couple convicted of animal cruelty banned from owning dogs for 10 years

An Irish couple who neglected their two pet dogs have been convicted of animal cruelty.

At Mallow District Court on Tuesday, February 20, a couple from Cork were banned from owning dogs for 10 years, fined €1,000, and ordered to pay total costs of over €3000 after being convicted of animal cruelty.

Cian and Kelly Woods of Tooreen North, Co Cork had admitted ten offences each under sections 11, 12, 13 and 19 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 (AHWA) at a previous sitting on November 28.

Ms Woods admitted that the dogs hadn’t been out in years and that they were being fed and watered from the house out through a window. The dogs were surrendered and taken for veterinary assessment. They were sedated to be shaved, during which live maggots were found in the urine-soaked hair in one of the dogs.

The charges were in connection with two West Highland Terriers, named Hunter and Muttley, removed from the defendants’ house by the ISPCA on September 19, 2022. 

In November, ISPCA Animal Welfare Inspector Caroline Faherty told the court that she responded to a report from a member of the public to find the dogs in an extremely matted state and living in a pen full of faeces. She said that it was obvious from grass growing around the pen that the dogs hadn’t been let out in a very long time. The dogs had to be lifted out of the pen as the door couldn’t be opened. 

Speaking about the case, Inspector Faherty said: “Hunter and Muttley had to endure atrocious living conditions and it is my view that they would have become seriously ill and died had the ISPCA not been alerted to their plight. I am just glad that I got there in time and was able to see such an immediate improvement in their condition and their lives”.

The case was adjourned pending a probationary report and, on passing sentence this week, Judge Colm Roberts said that he remembered the case well.

He recalled that the defendants had a child or children “and the dogs were an inconvenience”. He said that it was a “continued and long-term situation”, and that the behaviour of the defendants was “wilful”.

The Judge said that he had considered imposing a custodial sentence or community service and that, if the defendants had more financial clout, the fines would have been much higher. A condition of the 10-year disqualification order was that the defendants must successfully complete an animal welfare course and submit a certificate to the ISPCA before getting a dog in the future.

Judge Roberts commended on the “significant work” of the ISPCA in protecting animals and putting this case together.