Man Filmed Calling Dog 'Dirty Mutt' Handed Five Year Ban For Verbal Abuse

A man has been banned for keeping animals for five years after a recording emerged of him abusing his own dog.

Joshua Ponsford was prosecuted by the RSPCA after they received footage of the 23-year-old issuing a barrage of verbal abuse to his rottweiler, Lulu.

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Joshua pled guilty at Bristol Magistrates Court, and received a sentence banning him from keeping animals for five years, as well as a six week curfew.

The distressing recordings showed Joshua shouting at his dog, with one seeing him say to his pet: "Get in your bed, get in your bed now, get in your f***ing bed now, go in your bed now, now, now you f***ing stay there. You dirty little mutt.." A series of "thuds" and "yelps" were also heard.

A second recording heard Lulu whimpering and whining before Joshua is heard shouting "I'll f***ing have you."

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In court, Joshua denied ever bringing any physical harm to Lulu, but said that he felt his aggressive behaviour towards his dog may have caused her distress.

Speaking about the case, RSPCA inspector Miranda Albinson, said: "Throughout these recordings the male, who can be heard, is clearly angry and can be heard yelling at the dog."

A third recording sees Joshua tell the dog to "shut it" as Lulu is heard whimpering and barking.

Veterinary Surgeon David Martin said of the case: "It is my expert opinion that undoubtedly Lulu suffered as a result of mental fear and terror as a result of the verbal abuse from Mr. Ponsford as demonstrated on the audio recordings.

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"It is well known and understood by the public that dogs respond to the tone and volume of the voice and that dogs are susceptible and will suffer from fear and distress if verbally abused particularly if this is recurrent or long lasting."

He added: "Training and discipline of dogs is nowadays recognised as needing to be reward based so that positive achievements are rewarded and that negative behaviour is ignored and not reacted to.

"Physical and verbal abuse is no longer acceptable as part of dog training as it has been shown to be both ineffective and to cause the dog long term distress."

Topics: RSPCA, Pets, Animals, Dogs

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

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