Man Who was Caught Beating His Dog on Camera Banned from Keeping Dogs

A man seen beating his dog has been sentenced in court after he was identified from CCTV footage posted to social media.

Carl Pugh, 35, was caught on CCTV footage hitting his American bulldog named Jeff five times and holding him over a canal in Bilston, Wolverhampton, in the United Kingdom.

The CCTV footage was shared on Facebook thousands of times after it was posted online in in hopes of identifying him.

The RSPCA were able to identify Pugh from tips they received. When Pugh was confronted, he told a different story than what the cameras revealed.

“Pugh claimed that Jeff dragged him into the canal and that he got his foot wet, so he hit him – but he said that the CCTV made it look worse than it was, and he said that he loved the dog and would never harm him,” RSPCA inspector Vicki Taylor said in an RSPCA press release.

“But the CCTV showed a different story,” she continued. “On the footage, Pugh can clearly be seen hitting Jeff five times and then picking him up and holding him over the canal.”

When the court saw the footage and heard the case a few months later, the found Pugh guilty of causing unnecessary suffering. He is banned from owning an animal for 2 years.

You can view the CCTV footage below. Warning, the footage contains violence. and may be upsetting to some viewers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V90Uym2z4g

“The magistrates said in court that it was a ‘despicable way to treat a dog’ and they are right. There is no excuse to treat any animal like this,” said Insp. Taylor.

“Jeff is a lovely dog and he hasn’t got an aggressive bone in his body. It is so sad that he went through this.”

Magistrates also ordered Jeff to be passed over to the charity to be rehomed and we’re sure the RSPCA will do the best to find him a loving home.