A British man will spend nearly six months behind bars after being found guilty on May 24 of beating a puppy dog to death.
Oxford Magistrates Court sentenced 27-year-old scaffolder Callum Gerken from Wood Farm in Oxfordshire to 23 weeks in prison for the suffering he caused a 17-week-old Labrador called Shadow.
A MAN accused of beating a puppy to death before assaulting a woman in Oxford has been given a date for trial.
Callum Gerken, of Wood Farm, #Oxford, was charged last Friday with one count of causing… https://t.co/YJtcEsfWyz
— Police Alerts UK (@PoliceAlertsUk) April 12, 2019
Gerken confessed to repeatedly smacking Shadow with a slipper on April 3 and failing to take the pet, which was struggling to breathe, to a veterinary practice for treatment, causing the puppy to die.
He also admitted to sending threatening voice messages to Shadow’s owner via WhatsApp.
Gerken became upset after the puppy left feces “everywhere” in his home and he hit Shadow in a fit of rage.
“I have just beat it from one side of the room to the other,” he said in a message obtained by the Daily Mail.
Callum Gerken, aged 27, of Woodfarm, Oxford, has been jailed for 23 weeks and banned from keeping a dog for ten years after he was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal after the death of a labrador puppy.
More here ➡️ https://t.co/xAF0UsUpst pic.twitter.com/PafVGUxTJa
— TVP Oxford (@TVP_Oxford) May 24, 2019
He beat the animal so hard it could not walk.
“I don’t give a [expletive.] That is how it will be with me,” he said in another message. “She ain’t gonna do that again because she cannot [expletive] walk,” Gerken said, before sending a series of messages that there was “something wrong” with the puppy because it was struggling to breathe.
Labrador puppy beaten to death with slipper for defecating inside house. https://t.co/uWDaf4HYIu pic.twitter.com/BxzJM1pNvj
— UK Breaking News (@breakma_uk) May 25, 2019
The attacker had previously denied causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and sending malicious messages but changed his plea to guilty at the last minute.
Magistrates blamed Gerken for Shadow’s death.
“You were determined to cause harm and you made threats that you would cause further harm to the dog,” they said, according to the Daily Mail. “You were in a position of responsibility. You used a slipper as a weapon. You did not call or take the dog to the vet or seek advice even though you were aware she was unwell.”
The dog’s owner, who initially entrusted Gerken with caring for the animal, was shocked to learn the attacker’s sentence was shorter than expected.
“I couldn’t believe he only got 23 weeks,” Shadow’s owner and breeder, who asked not to be identified, told the Oxford Mail. “Two years would have been more appropriate.”
‘Nowhere near enough’: Puppy’s breeder reacts to dog killer’s sentence https://t.co/B7198Tz09Q
— Oxford Mail (@TheOxfordMail) May 25, 2019
A post-mortem examination revealed Shadow had died from multiple fractures to the ribs and jaw. The puppy’s liver was also ruptured.
The owner said her family was “devastated” by the loss, especially since the puppy was intended to replace a previous family pet that had died.
“We couldn’t tell the kids how she died as they would be too heartbroken,” she said. “They had only had her five weeks and they all absolutely adored her and he comes along and beats her to death.”
“She didn’t know anything else but love,” she said. “I was there when she was born and I watched her grow up and learn to walk and run.”
Gerken has been ordered to pay £250 ($318) in compensation, £1,000 ($1,274) in court expenses, and has been banned from keeping dogs for 10 years.
However, the owner said, “We don’t feel justice has been done at all.”
Breeder of Labrador puppy reacts after Oxford man Callum Gerken jailed – Oxford Mail https://t.co/DFTYQzRJme https://t.co/GA5oXyiqcm #dogs #petshop #4pawshop #labrador pic.twitter.com/RiHlz71yu7
— Manfred Rosenberg (@4PawShop) May 25, 2019