A man who beat to death a puppy with a slipper after the ill-fated animal defacated inside his home was jailed yesterday.
Callum Gerken was sentenced on Friday to less than six months in jail after beating a 17-week-old black Labrador named Shadow with a slipper.
The pet suffered a laceration to her liver, a broken jaw and fractured ribs in the vicious attack in Oxford last month.
The court heard yesterday how Gerken, 27, caused the serious injuries to the dog – who belonged to an unnamed woman in her 20s – because Shadow was not house-trained and tore up his belongings, The Sun reports.
Gerken also sent malicious voice messages to Shadow’s owner, saying:
I have just beat it from one side of the room to the other. I don’t give a f***. That is how it will be with me. She ain’t gonna do that again because she cannot f***ing walk.
The puppy’s breeder has since spoken out about how they feel the sentence of six months was far too lenient, in an interview with Oxford Mail.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said little Shadow was treasured by two children aged 6 and 8.
The unidentified woman said Shadow was the beloved pet of two children aged 6 and 8, who had only had her for five weeks. She added Shadow ‘didn’t know anything else but love’ before her untimely death.
Police were called on April 3 to an address in Oxford and Gerken was arrested on April 4 before being charged the following day.
Gerken previously denied charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and sending malicious communications. But he changed his plea to guilty at the last minute on Friday.
He was sentenced to 23 weeks in prison and ordered to pay £250 compensation, £1,000 in court costs and banned from keeping dogs for 10 years.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.