THE ISPCA has welcomed a jail term handed down to a Donegal man who kicked a dog up and down a street before setting it alight.

 

Christopher Foy (27) of Mountcharles was sent to prison for 18 months and banned for life from keeping animals following the brutal attack.

 

The assault on Buttons, a Yorkshire terrier, on January 24 this year was witnessed by a neighbour of Foy’s. 

 

They watched as he kicked the pet before squeezing its neck. When the witness opened a window to challenge him, Foy picked the dog up and walked off. He returned ten minutes later without the terrier.

 

During a hearing at Letterkenny Circuit Court earlier this week, ISPCA Senior Inspector Kevin McGinley recalled how he had responded to a complaint made to the National Animal Cruelty Helpline.

 

He could see that the dog had sustained an injury to the side of its face and the dog’s back appeared to be burned. On closer inspection, he discovered what appeared to be a coal substance had burned the hair on the animal’s back.

 

Inspector McGinley was informed by the dog’s owner that he had found the terrier dead at the rear of the property.

 

The dog was removed from the property to allow for a clinical examination to determine the cause of death.

 

 Garda Sergeant Oliver Devenney told the court how the dog had been found and it had severe scorch marks to its body.

 

 When it was put to Foy, he admitted killing the animal but claimed a drink and drugs binge had sent him on a “week of destruction”.