‘Neighbour of Year’ left panting cockapoo in hot car for 2 hours
A RETIRED college lecturer honoured by the Queen for his voluntary work has been convicted of animal cruelty after he left his dog in a hot car for two hours.
David Kent, 63, was charged after police found the cockapoo panting for breath and in a distressed state.
Temperatures outside were around 20C (68F) at the time but much hotter inside the car, which was parked in direct sunlight.
Kent, a community champion and previous Neighbour of the Year in the Cheshire village of Chelford, claimed he had left a bowl of water for the animal and had wound down the car windows by six inches.
But Stockport magistrates were told there was no water in the bowl and the windows had been opened a mere inch when police retrieved the three-year-old dog – a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle.
Yesterday Kent was fined £136, ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge and £85 costs, after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to the animal in May.
He claimed the neighbour who reported him was homophobic and critical of his 18year relationship with partner Mike Jehan.
Former catering and hospitality lecturer Kent, secretary of the Chelford Together residents’ group and former chef Mr Jehan, who is chairman of the group, were honoured in 2015 after Chelford Together won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – the highest award given to local volunteer groups.
The pair, who also ran their own restaurant together at a golf club, attended the Queen’s Garden Party at Holyrood, Edinburgh, to meet her Majesty. They also won a ‘Neighbour of the Year’ accolade at the Local Heroes Awards in 2011 after setting up the community network to help combat loneliness among the elderly. Lucy Garside, prosecuting, told the court that Kent adopted the cockapoo from Manchester Dogs Home following the death of his previous dog last Christmas.
Referring to the incident, she said a police officer ‘could hear the dog barking from inside’, adding: ‘He could see the dog was panting excessively and physically hot to touch...’
Andrea Woods, defending, said Kent was attending a community meeting but left the dog in the car because it hadn’t been socialised properly.
She insisted: ‘Mr Kent loves the dog....he won’t make a similar mistake in the future.’