Woman banned from keeping dogs after footage shows mistreatment in Dorset
Video clips revealed repeated abuse of two dogs inside a Wimborne home
A woman from Dorset has been banned from keeping dogs for five years after footage showed her mistreating two animals inside her home.
Kay Frances Florence Holloway, of Wimborne, pleaded guilty to an animal welfare offence following an investigation by the RSPCA.
Footage shared with charity
Video clips recorded on cameras inside Holloway’s home were passed to the RSPCA by a neighbour who had access to them.
The recordings showed her with her own dog, Shuini, and a friend’s dog, Loki, which she was looking after.
In the clips, she is heard making verbal threats and is seen using physical force towards both dogs.
Evidence presented in court
A vet who reviewed the footage said there were multiple examples of physical harm caused through rough handling.
This included pulling the dogs by their collars, slamming them against doors and lifting one dog by its collar.
The report also described an instance where a smaller dog was repeatedly struck with a slipper.
The vet said: “There are multiple examples within this footage of Holloway causing physical harm to these dogs. Physical harm is brought about through rough handling, by either yanking the dogs by their collar, slamming them against doors or, in the case of the smaller dog, lifting the dog by his collar. There are multiple examples of this type of rough handling within these videos.
“Dogs are sentient beings who can feel pain and should be handled gently. Repeated rough handling of this nature can bring about suffering, inflicting soft tissue injuries to the neck and body. It is likely that injuries of this nature will have caused temporary bruising and swelling on these animals.
“In another clip, the systematic beating with a slipper on the smaller dog is clearly meant to inflict pain and the force involved is considerable. The owner appears to react to the dog biting her, however the bite is likely a fear response and the owner is clearly not in danger at the time of the beating. The owner makes multiple threats of violence to the animals, suggesting that she considers the use of beatings and violence to be legitimate in the treatment of animals.
“The rough handling seen in these videos, together with one example of violent beating, would have brought about significant psychological suffering to these animals. The evidence of psychological suffering in these animals includes high frequency whimpering noises, cowering in a corner, a crouched stance, pulled back ears, hesitancy on approach and avoidance behaviour.
“The fact that the larger dog frequently urinates inside the house, although this could be due to a lack of toilet training, is also commonly seen as a result of fear and anxiety. The smaller dog also appears to start toileting inside throughout the sequence of videos, despite Holloway suggesting this was not always the case. This suggests that both dogs are displaying ‘autonomic’ responses, which are a key component of fear-related behaviour in dogs.”
Sentencing and outcome
Holloway, whose date of birth is 15th May 1960, was sentenced at Poole Magistrates Court on 15th April.
She was banned from keeping dogs for five years.
She was also fined £1,415, ordered to pay £400 in costs and a £566 victim surcharge.
The court heard she expressed remorse and said she struggled with health conditions and could not cope with caring for the second dog.
Shuini has since been rehomed by the RSPCA.
RSPCA response
Inspector Patrick Bailey said: “Dogs feel pain and suffering just like we do and always deserve to be shown kindness and compassion.
“In the footage she uses offensive swear words, her tone of voice is raised, she appears to control the dogs ability to exhibit normal behaviours and restricts their options for moving freely around the flat.
“This was not an isolated incident, an isolated use of bad language or an isolated use of physical force, this can be observed on a number of instances over a two day period from the footage.”