A 23-year-old man who admitted three charges of causing unnecessary cruelty to three of his five dogs, has been jailed for three months and ordered to pay kenneling costs of £14,000.

Michael Stephen Conwell, from Slievebuoy Park in Claudy, also received a lifetime ban against keeping pet dogs, the Magistrates court in Derry heard yesterday.

He was later released on his own bail of £500 to appeal against the jail sentence imposed on him.

A barrister for the Public Prosecution Service told District Judge Barney McElholm that the three dogs were placed in kennels in a veterinary clinic exactly one year ago. She said the cost of keeping the dogs in the kennels was just over £1,100 per month.

The dogs, a lurcher, a patterdale and a patterdale-cairn cross breed were found in the defendant’s home on February 22 of last year. They were moved from the house by police officers who were accompanied by an animal welfare officer. All of the dogs had serious injuries to their mouths.

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