Farmer hanged his sheepdog for failing to round up flock

A FARMER has been jailed for hanging his sheepdog from a tree after it failed to round up his flock properly.

Graham Thomas, 55, attached a 20ft rope around the neck of the Welsh border collie.

Witnesses saw Thomas swearing at the dog, called Prince, shortly before it was killed.

A vet told a court the incident would have caused the animal “great fear, distress and unnecessary suffering”.

Thomas said Prince had run up the tree itself with the rope around its neck – and it twisted around it. He claimed the black and white dog was dead by the time he tried to help at the farm in Rhymney, South Wales.

Newport magistrates heard that the RSPCA spoke to an expert vet who said that the version given by Thomas did not make sense.

Thomas, of Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales, denied the offence under the Animal Welfare Act, but was found guilty after trial.

The court heard that it was one of the “clearest” acts of cruelty that had been encountered and was so serious that only custody could be justified.

He was jailed for 18 weeks for causing unnecessary suffering and was banned from keeping dogs and sheep for life.

Emma Smith, an RSPCA inspector, said: “This is such an unusual and disturbing case where a sheepdog was killed by his owner allegedly because he wouldn’t round up his sheep properly.

“Prince would have suffered immensely. This deliberate cruelty is just so horrific. Following the incident, his body was then removed by the defendant and burnt.”