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Dog owner whose pets savaged livestock to pay compensation

Thu, 21 Jul 2016

A dog owner has been ordered to pay more than £6,000 to a farmer in Crosby after his dogs' savaged his farm animals.

55-year-old Neil Cheetham appeared at Douglas Courthouse earlier this week where he pleaded guilty to being the keeper of two dogs which were worrying livestock.

The Greeba man's two pets - Scooby Doo and Caesar Sam - savaged over 60 animals in a field at Ballavitchel Farm on April 12th.

Police were called to the scene where they found the bodies of 13 ewes and 52 lambs - they also found the two dogs which had been shot dead; both had suffered severe head trauma.

Cheetham's advocate told the court he accepted his dogs had been out of control saying they'd been on private land adjoining the field before straying onto the farm territory.

He described him as an "animal lover" and the "very proud owner" of the two dogs saying the loss to him after having his dogs "executed" shouldn't be underestimated.

Cheetham asked the court to take four offences of being the keeper of a dog which was worrying livestock from January and March into consideration.

Sentencing him Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes said he'd had a number of opportunities to stop his dogs straying saying "you did nothing which seems to have had any effect".

She fined him £1,000 and ordered him to pay compensation of £6,760 as well as court costs of £50 adding "I understand completely how upset you must have been". 

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