Animal cruelty trial dates set

A MAN and woman will face trial next year over cruelty allegations linked to a bulldog puppy called Mula.

Jerome Anthony Lothian, 27, of Homewell Walk, Clifton, is charged alongside Danielle Toni O’brien, 30, of Alfreton Road, Nottingham, with causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

It is alleged that between July 1 and 23, 2019, they failed to provide prompt or effective veterinary care and attention for the dog’s fractured left hip.

They are also accused of causing unnecessary suffering between August 28 and September 19, 2019, by failing to provide prompt or effective professional veterinary care and attention for its fractured femur.

A third charge relates to the “duty of a person responsible for an animal to ensure welfare” and alleges that between July 1 and September 16, 2019, they did not take reasonable steps to ensure that the needs of an animal for which they were responsible were met.

A fourth charge also relates to the “duty of a person responsible for an animal to ensure welfare”. The fifth charge relates to the “duty of a person responsible for an animal to ensure welfare”.

Lothian also faces one charge of causing unnecessary suffering, allegedly involving physical abuse, including blunt force trauma, between July 1 and September 16, 2019.

Not guilty pleas were entered to all charges. At Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday, their trial was set for two days, on March 24 and 25. Both are on conditional bail.