A man has been arrested and banned from keeping dogs after leaving two terriers with serious injuries following suspected badger baiting.
Jack and Race were found with multiple scarring to their heads and neck, with Jack missing 75 percent of the skin and tissue from his jaw.
Wayne Mortimer, of Nant y Fedw, Abercynon, Wales, pleaded guilty to three animal welfare offences when he appeared at Merthyr Magistrates Court last Wednesday.
He has been given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and banned from owning dogs for 10 years.
Thankfully, the pair are now recovering well in RSPCA care and the charity is looking for loving new homes for them.
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On November 25 last year, RSPCA Inspector Simon Evans visited Mortimer's home with police officers, following welfare concerns for dogs at the address.
They found five Patterdale terriers and a lurcher puppy living in steel kennels in a shed in the garden, with one of the dogs visibly injured.
In his evidence to the court, Inspector Evans said the dog's chin had "been completely stripped of skin and hair and was red raw".
Both dogs were seized by police and taken immediately for veterinary treatment by the RSPCA.
When Mortimer was interviewed by Inspector Evans on 6 December, he told the officer that the dogs' injuries had been caused by them fighting.
He said the injury to Race had occurred about 12 months earlier following another fight with Jack, and the historic scarring was a result of bolting foxes on land controlled by a game-keeper friend.
But a veterinary expert, who provided evidence in the case, said she believed they were caused by the powerful bite of a badger.
A second independent veterinary expert agreed: "The chin injuries sustained by the dogs are not consistent with having been caused by fighting with each other when taking into account the severity of the facial tissue damage and tissue loss.
"It is highly likely that these injuries were caused as a consequence of them fighting with a badger."
Both vets said Jack and Race were suffering due to Mortimer's failure to seek veterinary care.
Mortimer, who signed both dogs over to the RSPCA, was also ordered to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work and pay £400 in costs and a £128 victim surcharge.
He will be unable to appeal his 10-year ban on keeping dogs for the next five years.
The four remaining dogs that were in his care have since been rehomed with the animal charity.
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