Drugged-up teenagers subjected a tiny little dog to the worst cruelty the RSPCA have ever seen and dumped him in a rubbish tip – after breaking his NECK and setting him on FIRE.
Tiny Chihuahua-cross, Chunky, was left for dead when he was targeted in a completely unprovoked attack – described as the “worst-ever” by a RSPCA inspector.
The pup, who was less than one at the time, was stolen from his owner by four teenagers who carried out the brutal torture.
The RSPCA found Chunky abandoned near the rubbish tip before reports on Facebook revealed what had actually happened to him.
Three of the teenagers, two aged 16 and one aged 15 at the time of the offence, had admitted to punching and kicking Chunky, before breaking his leg and neck, and then set fire to his face by lighting an aerosol deodorant can.
They then feed him drugs and dumped him at the rubbish tip in Margate, Kent.
Investigations by the RSPCA revealed that he was taken on February 24 and tortured over a period of several hours before being dumping him the next day.
The group thought he was dead, and was not discovered until the following evening by a passer-by.
The trio, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in October to cruelly ill-treating the animal in a way which they knew would cause him to suffer unnecessarily.
They were all disqualified from keeping all animals for five years, given a referral order for 12 months and ordered to pay costs.
One of the youths was made to pay £1,000 and the other two £500.
A fourth youth, aged 16 at the time of the offence, pleaded guilty to the same offences under the Animal Welfare Act, at a trial at Folkestone Youth Court.
He was also disqualified from keeping animals for five years and given a referral order for twelve months, plus his father was made to pay costs of £5,800.
RSPCA inspector Caroline Doe said: “This was the most disturbing case I have ever dealt with – by an absolute mile.
“The whole thing sends shivers down my spine. The defendants may have been young and confessed to being under the influence of drugs but the cruelty they inflicted on this poor dog was extreme, barbaric and inexcusable.
“Chunky was found with a broken leg and neck, and with burns all over his face and eyes.
“He must have suffered horrendously for hours as the senseless torture took place for the amusement of these boys.
“What was perhaps even worse was the fact Chunky suffered for days after he was dumped – literally left for dead on his own to wander next to a fast road.
“It is a miracle he survived.
“I will never forget how terrified and depressed he was when I first saw him.
“The injuries were so severe that despite the fantastic veterinary care and medication he was on, the medication was unable to numb all of the pain, and he suffered for at least six days according to veterinary experts.
“Thankfully he has now been restored to health and returned to his loving owners, though I fear he will always be timid and nervous as a result of his ordeal, and imagine the owners will never quite be able to come to terms with what was senseless and needlessly inflicted on their beautiful family pet.”
