Battered pets on the lookout for new home
TWO dogs that were attacked with an axe by their drunken owner are recovering and will soon be looking for new homes.
Neo and Santos are in the care of Freshfields Animal Rescue, which has a charity shop in Southport town centre, and will be rehabilitated and trained before efforts are made to find them a new family.
The pair had been in police kennels since being taken from their owner Peter Hillin, 47, after a horrifying incident in Ashbury Road, Huyton.
Shocked neighbours called police after Neo was left covered in blood from cuts to his head and shoulder.
Hillin claimed he only used the handle of the fearsome weapon to strike Neo when it attacked his other dog, Santos.
But a vet dealing with Neo’s horrific injuries told a court he believed that they were consistent with three or four blows with the sharp end of the axe.
Hillin was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on May 21, after being convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
The “friendly, happy dogs” are now recovering in the care of Freshfields Animal Rescue Centre. Operations manager at Freshfields, Dawn Hurst, said: “The police contacted Freshfields for help as the dogs were now ready to be rehomed. We were only too glad to respond. We have been gradually getting to know Neo and Santos, and showing them the gentleness and compassion that they need.
“We cannot begin to comprehend why someone would inflict such a deliberate act of cruelty upon these defenceless animals.
“We are, as always, grateful to the local community for their vigilance and for their faith in Freshfields as we now begin the search for a loving, forever home for Neo and Santos.”
Armed officers arrested Hillin at his home on or around 4pm on Sunday, December 3 last year. In court Jane Stacey, prosecuting, said: “The reports to police were that there was a man in that road striking a dog with an axe.
“Several neighbours had become involved in this and one lady said when she came out of her house she saw blood on the hands of this defendant and saw an injured dog.”
The court found Hillin’s account of how the injuries were caused was “inconsistent” and convicted him on the basis he had used the sharp end of the axe.
Ms Stacey said Neo was treated by a vet, who performed surgery to repair a deep 4cm laceration to his head and another deep 4-5cm laceration to his right shoulder.
Neo and Santos, who only received minor injuries, both made a full recovery and had been taken into police kennels – costing the taxpayer £2,000 per dog. Keith Webster, defending, said his client accepted the decision of the court after his trial, adding: “It is clear from having heard the evidence of the trial that Peter Hillin did not wake up that morning and decide to injure his dogs.
“What clearly happened, and was common ground through the puncture wounds, is that one dog attacked the other, that’s how this incident started.”
Mr Webster said Hillin lived a “rather solitary lifestyle” outside of his job and said: “He loves his dogs more than people, he’s not a people person.”
Magistrates ordered Hillin to pay £1,100 prosecution costs and banned him from keeping animals for 10 years.