Man left dog to die in hot car
A MAN who left his dog to die in a hot car while he drank in a nearby pub has walked free from court.
Ian Czajkowskyj had ignored two previous warnings regarding locking up his seven-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier Carlo inside his vehicle.
But on June 19 this year police discovered Carlo dead in the back of Czajkowskyj’s white Fiat 500.
He had died of massive blood clotting brought on by severe heatstroke.
Czajkowskyj, 57, of Elgin Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, has now admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, at Tameside Magistrates Court.
He was also banned from keeping animals for life and handed £300 costs and a £115 victim surcharge.
Mark Harper, prosecuting, said: “It is likely that Carlo was subjected to monumental suffering for a minimum of one hour but for a maximum period of nine hours.
“This was a clear case of the owner placing his own needs before those of the animal, especially because he had been warned before.”
On April 4 this year, an RSPCA inspector found Carlo locked in Czajkowskyj’s car and left an animal welfare warning notice on his windscreen, although the vehicle was in the shade and the dog was asleep.
Then on May 26 police were called about a dog in the same car at Ashton Leisure Centre car park.
Members of the public had managed to open the door and release Carlo, who they said appeared ‘hot and bothered’.
Czajkowskyj had been drinking in a nearby pub and on his return was warned by police. But around 10pm on June 19 Carlo was found dead in the car in Moss Street East, Ashton.
Mr Harper said: “Temperatures that day were very high, up to 35.2C and with an average of 28C.
“There was a two to three inch gap in the window. The dog was slumped in the back seat and there was a lot of blood.”
Shortly, Czajkowskyj returned to the scene and stated he had been in the pub ‘at least a few hours’.
In an interview with police he said he suffered from memory loss due to a heart condition and the medication he took for that condition and depression.
Czajkowskyj’s lawyer Sonya O’Brien said: “He is embarrassed and ashamed and regrets his actions every single day.
“He has suffered two heart attacks and a mini-stroke, which he says has caused him memory loss.
“But he accepts he should not have locked the dog in the car knowing he suffered from this condition.”
Chairman of the bench Fiona Maynard said: “You deliberately left this animal to suffer despite previous warnings. You left a dog in a vehicle in severe heat which resulted in its death.”
After the hearing, RSPCA inspector Nicola Waterworth told the M.E.N.: “People have got to realise that even on a sunny yet cloudy day the inside of a car can still become the temperature of an oven.”