A Nairn man has been sentenced to a disqualification order from keeping animals indefinitely after failing to provide adequate care and provision for his dog Duke’s welfare, which caused him to lose body weight to the point he starved to death. He was also sentenced to a community payback order of 250 hours unpaid work to be completed within 12 months, and a supervision period for two years.
24-year-old Brian John Farmer of Church Street, Nairn, pled guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to Duke, a one-and-a-half-year-old American XL cross Staffordshire bull terrier type dog, at Inverness Sheriff Court on 27 July and was sentenced at the same court on Monday, 11 September 2023.
Scottish SPCA chief inspector, Iain Allan, said, “On 4 February 2022 we received a call from our helpline regarding an abandoned dog at a property in Church Street, Nairn. The caller stated that the property appeared abandoned by its previous tenant Brian Farmer. The council had forced entry but, due to the state of the property, they had called in industrial cleaners. On 3 February 2022 the cleaners found the dead dog within the property and we arranged to pick up the dog from the locus.
“On entering, the first thing we noticed was the terrible state of the property, which was filthy with a strong, foul-smelling odour.
“There was a lot of rubbish covering the floor consisting of empty food packets, empty chewed food tins, chewed foam from the sofa and dog faeces. The room was cold as there had been no heating on within the premises for some time.
“We were shocked to see the emaciated body of a large dog in the kitchen/living room area.
“It was obvious from the state of decay of the carcass that the dog had been dead for some time. The dog was lying stretched out on the linoleum floor in front of the chewed up sofa.
“We were able to identify the dog as Duke, a one-and-a-half-year-old American XL bully cross Staffordshire bull terrier type dog.
“Duke’s body was taken for a post mortem report where the vet determined the cause of death as severe malnutrition.
“We are pleased that Farmer received an indefinite ban from keeping animals. The suffering and pain Duke endured at the hands of Farmer were absoultely shocking.
“If anyone has conerns about an animal they should call our animal helpline on 03000 999 999.”
