A man who gave his dog the ‘worst beating ever seen’ by a RSPCA inspector as punishment for an accident on the floor has avoided a jail sentence.
Matthew Hurst, 23, brutally beat his dog Congo after he either urinated or defecated on the floor.
He was caught on video stamping on him around 15 times with ‘great force’ while shouting ‘what are you doing’.
The footage then captured him grabbing helpless Congo’s head and slamming it onto the floor.
It was sent to the RSPCA in April from a member of the public.
Workers at the animal charity were left shocked after watching it, with inspector Ryan King describing the beating as ‘the worst’ he had seen.
He said: ‘The video showed a man sitting on a sofa, watching a black bull breed dog either urinating or defecating on the floor.
‘The man then stands up and proceeds to stamp on the dog with his foot around fifteen times with great force, shouting “what are you doing”.
‘He then reaches down to the dog, which is now lying on the floor, grabs it by the head and slams the dog onto the floor again with great force several times.
‘This is the worst beating I have ever seen during my three years as a RSPCA inspector.’
Congo was taken to the RSPCA’s animal hospital and examined. Luckily, he did not have any serious physical injuries.
But vets who analysed the video said Congo would have suffered ‘fear, distress and pain’ in the beating.
They found he had 21 blunt force blows to his abdomen, chest and head.
Hurst, of Wigan, was charged with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, contrary to Section 4 (1) of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
At Wigan Magistrates’ Court on November 17, he was disqualified from keeping animals for ten years and sentenced to a suspended 16-week jail term.
He will have to undertake 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days, carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, pay £2,558 in court costs and a £120 victim surcharge.
Congo was signed over to the RSPCA by Hurst and will be rehomed in the future.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.