A man who slashed his dog’s neck and left it to bleed to death has been jailed for 26 weeks.

Johnathan Holder’s mother discovered Tyrone the Staffie’s lifeless body under a tyre at the bottom of the garden.

She reported it to police who alerted the RSPCA. Tyrone’s body was taken to a vet who found five sharp trauma wounds in his neck, shoulder and left leg, which were believed to have been caused by a knife.

The vet said it could have taken hours for Tyrone to die as the wounds missed his main arteries.

Officers discovered blood splatters on the garden patio and inside the house, while bloodied clothes belonging to Holder were found in the washing machine.

Holder, 33, was arrested but during an interview, he said he had no memory of the weekend as he had been drinking heavily.

He denied killing Tyrone and claimed that another animal was responsible for his death. 

RSPCA Inspector Pamela Bird said: ‘The duration of this suffering will be a minimum of a couple of minutes to give time for the dog to walk or stagger about the lounge, kitchen, patio and garden areas haemorrhaging as he was moved around. 

‘However, it is more likely he suffered for a longer period of several minutes up to a maximum of four hours as none of the major blood vessels of the neck or his trachea were involved in his injuries.’

The court heard how Holder, of Derwent Road, Chester, had a fresh dog bite mark on his hand which could have provided a motive for the attack. But he denied this and said it was caused by a broken glass.

He then claimed someone else had killed the dog in a ‘revenge attack’ and denied the animal welfare charge, but he was found guilty by magistrates.

Inspector Bird added: ‘This was an upsetting case to deal with. It was clear from the vet report that Tyrone’s death was prolonged and that he suffered a great deal.’

During sentencing, the court was told this was a case of ‘absolute cruelty’ and not only did Holder inflict the stab wounds, he denied his involvement and tried to shift responsibility onto an unknown attacker. 

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