he man who ‘staved a puppy’s skull in with a claw hammer’ has been jailed.
Kyle Keegan from Gilpins Manor in Lurgan, Co Armagh admitted animal cruelty earlier this year over 11-week old Sparky’s death on February 3, 2018, Belfast Live reports .
The 24-year-old was sentenced to a total of two years and six months at Craigavon Crown Court yesterday, Wednesday, July 10, half of which will be served in jail and half on licence.
The cross-breed puppy’s remains were found in a bin in Lurgan’s Ailysbury Park following a house party in February 2018.
He had sustained a number of fractures and severe brain trauma.
The BBC reports that the judge at Craigavon Crown Court said the outcome of the post mortem examination made “chilling reading”.
“It is difficult to imagine how violence could be any more gratuitous than when meted out to an 11-week-old small breed pup by the use of a claw hammer to stove its skull in,” added Judge Neil Rafferty.
“There is little can be said that would express the horror of this small dog’s death at your hands.”
He also banned Keegan from keeping animals for 30 years.
