WATCH: Man banned from keeping animals after savagely beating dog by canal
The sentence comes after a video of the attack went viral on social media.
A man who was caught savagely beating a dog next to a canal has been banned from keeping animals for two years.
Carl Pugh, of Elizabeth Avenue, Bilston, was caught on CCTV footage hitting his American bulldog called Jeff five times, before picking him up and holding him over the canal.
Being sentenced at Birmingham Magistrates Court, magistrates described Pugh's actions as a 'despicable way to treat a dog'.
The 35-year-old has been disqualified from keeping animals for two years, given a 12-week curfew and been ordered to pay costs of £100 and a victim surcharge of £85.
He was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering in his absence at a hearing last month, before being sentenced last week.
RSPCA inspector Vicki Taylor said: "“Pugh claimed that Jeff dragged him into the canal and that he got his foot wet, so he hit him - but he said that the CCTV made it look worse than it was, and he said that he loved the dog and would never harm him.
“But the CCTV showed a different story. On the footage, Pugh can clearly be seen hitting Jeff five times and then picking him up and holding him over the canal.
“The magistrates said in court that it was a ‘despicable way to treat a dog’ and they are right. There is no excuse to treat any animal like this.
“We’d like to thank everyone who contacted us with information after seeing the shocking video online.”
She added: "Jeff is a lovely dog and he hasn’t got an aggressive bone in his body. It is so sad that he went through this.”
The cruel canal towpath attack was caught on camera, helping police and the RSPCA track down Pugh.
The recording, taken from a house between Loxdale Sidings and Dudley Street, was captured on a security camera by software manager Steve Childs.
He claimed magistrates should have dealt Pugh a harsher punishment, and said: "It's quite a lenient sentence. Not being able to keep a dog for two years, is that really going to stop him from doing it again?
"I have never seen anything of this severity. [I was in] complete shock, disgust and disbelief."
The 41-year-old said he was alerted to the incident while working in his office at home, adding: "I heard a high-pitched bark outside, turned on the live CCTV and saw the end of what happened.
"When I played it back, I could not believe what I was seeing. The dog did nothing to provoke this. I got the camera to prevent burglars, so to pick up something like this was a surprise.”
Pugh was convicted in his absence of causing unnecessary suffering to the dog after failing to turn up for his trial in November.
A warrant was issued and he was arrested, but later granted bail by magistrates.
He then failed to turn up for sentence at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court and a second warrant was issued for his arrest earlier this month.
Police eventually managed to catch Pugh and he was sentenced for his offending at the court last Friday.
RSPCA spokeswoman Rachel Butler said the charity investigated 6,834 cases of animal cruelty across the West Midlands last year - an increase of 3.8 per cent.
She added: “This was a shocking case of animal cruelty which led to an innocent dog to suffer unnecessarily.
"We are pleased that the court has recognised the seriousness of the case by imposing on the defendant a disqualification order on keeping animals for two years."
“We believe that people are simply less willing to stand by and do nothing if they think an animal is suffering.
“People are increasingly likely to share images or footage on their social media accounts of animals they believe are not being cared for properly, while many will see material their friends have shared and then contact us about them.
“Either way, our officers are under increased pressure having to respond to more calls and investigate more complaints, but it is thanks to their dedication, as well as RSPCA staff and volunteers that we are able to transform the lives of tens of thousands of animals each year.”
