A STROUD man has been fined £455 for leaving a Staffordshire bull terrier type dog tied up outside without and food or water on one of the hottest days of the year.
Martin Smith, of Monkey Puzzle Close, Stroud, pleaded guilty to two offences of animal cruelty, one of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and a second of failing to meet an animal's needs, at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court on Friday, January 3.
The court heard how in May last year Smith left a male Staffordshire Bull Terrier type dog tied by his lead to a hedge in an enclosed remote field in Nastend near Stonehouse.
He was left without any food, water or shelter and with no means of freeing himself on one of the hottest days of the year.
Smith was fined £110 for the offences. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £20 and to pay Stroud District Council its full costs of £325 for taking the dog in and rehoming him.
A spokesperson for SDC stated that although the dog has now been successfully rehomed the outcome could have been very different if it hadn’t been for the actions of a concerned member of the public who found him in the field and reported it to the relevant authorities.
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