Lancashire man jailed for 'torturing' 11-week-old puppy to death

A man has been given the longest prison sentence ever handed down under the animal welfare act for torturing his 11-week-old puppy to death.

Dudley Payne, 29, from Penwortham in South Ribble, was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to American Bully type dog Rocko.

He was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison, and was also banned from keeping animals for 15 years.

Payne took Rocko to a vet on 2 February 2022, but the dog was already dead when they arrived.

A postmortem revealed that the puppy the had suffered a ruptured liver, head trauma, a partial hip fracture and abrasions consistent with being scratched by fingernails, as well as cigarette burns to his groin area. There were also injuries to his abdomen and lacerations to his liver and he had inhaled the contents of his stomach.

In a statement read in court at the trial, inspector Dingley said: “The vet received the post mortem results back and immediately contacted the RSPCA. He told me on the phone it was the worst post mortem examination report he had ever read.”

Payne had bought the puppy from a childhood friend just six days beforehand.

He claimed the injuries had been caused when he was performing CPR on the dog at his home in Balcarres Road, Leyland.

A jury deliberated for just twenty minutes, before returning an unanimous decision that he was guilty of animal cruelty after a four-day trial last month. 

Speaking after Payne's sentencing hearing on 20 October, inspector Dingley said: “I will never be able to comprehend what happened to Rocko and why such a young animal was treated in such a cruel way.

"This investigation will stay with me forever, but I’m pleased that we were able to get some justice for this little puppy, and I think the long custodial sentence reflects the gravity of this case.”