A grandmother who allowed her 10-year-old grandson to dock the tail of a puppy avoided a ban on keeping dogs but was fined £200, ordered to pay a £15 surcharge and £300 costs.
Bridget Sheridan, 62, said it had been a tradition in the travelling community, from which she descends, and she did not realise it was illegal. A judge said he was disturbed she allowed her grandson near the pet with a knife.
Puppies sometimes have their tails docked by owners who believe it be more hygienic. But the practice, which the RSPCA says is painful and cruel, was banned several years ago.
Sentencing her at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court yesterday, District Judge Martin Brown said: “This is a case with which I was greatly concerned.
“A very young boy was allowed to go near a young dog with a knife and that really did trouble me.
“I’m not going to disqualify you from having dogs, I’m satisfied that this was a misunderstanding by you of the legal position and I’m fairly hopeful it won’t happen again.”
Sheridan, of Broome Road, Low Hill, Wolverhampton, was convicted in her absence of allowing the dog’s tail be docked at an earlier hearing after she forgot about the court date.
Wolverhampton City Council, which prosecuted Sheridan, was alerted after she called to have the dog taken in because it was being “bullied” by her two other dogs. The puppy is now said to be doing well after being taken in by the local authority.
The court was told that, in interview, she had said her grandson had carried out the procedure, but in court she claimed it was she who had carried it out.
She said: “I like dogs very much. I thought that it was the right thing to do, I didn’t realise it was against the law to do this.”
Mr Brown said he would not reopen the case to look at her claims because she had clearly stated in her interview that her grandson had carried out the act.
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