Foxford men plead guilty to animal cruelty

Foxford men plead guilty to animal cruelty

TWO eighteen-year-old men could face prison after they intentionally let two ponies loose on a public road, resulting in one pony having to be put down.
Conor Bourke Walsh, of Sliabh Rua, Foxford, and John Burke, of Stone Park, Foxford appeared before Ballina District Court last week, where they both pleaded to a charge of animal cruelty.
The court heard that at 5.30am on May 15, 2014, Conor Bourke Walsh was driving in the town land of Corlummin, Foxford, with John Burke. The two men stopped the car, got out and released two ponies from a field. The young men then chased the ponies down the road in the car, and the animals subsequently entered the garden of a private property. On attempting to get the ponies back out onto the road, one of the ponies got its leg stuck in a cattle grid. Its leg was broken. The two men left the injured pony in the cattle grid and left the scene.
On seeing the uninjured pony roaming the road later that morning, the daughter of Michael McHugh, the owner of the ponies went looking for the other pony, which she found on the road in great distress. Mr McHugh had to call a vet who had to put down the animal as a result of its injuries.
The pony with the severe leg injury was found a half mile from its owner’s house. The two men were detected by gardaí after receiving information in relation to the car they were driving on the night.

Reckless
Defending solicitor for Conor Bourke Walsh, Brendan Donnelly, told the court that in 20 years of his career he had never dealt with such a case. He said his client and Mr Burke had acted recklessly, but that they did not intend to cause the animals harm on the night. He noted that the experience of finding the animal injured on the road had to be an ‘awful experience’ for Mr McHugh and his daughter.
Mr Donnelly said his client didn’t know why he did it and that he was prepared to make compensation available for Mr McHugh. He told the court that his client was driving his mother’s car home when the incident took place.
Solicitor for John Burke, John Geary told the court that the incident was ‘simply tomfoolery’ and said his client did not realised how badly injured the pony was when he left the scene.
The court was told that Mr Burke wrote a letter of apology to Mr McHugh following the incident.

‘Unusually cruel’
Judge Mary Devins described the case as ‘unusually cruel’ and said there was a number of factors in the case, including a question of the value of the animals, the danger to road users on the night and the ‘unexplained and utter gratuitous cruelty’.
“It is the equivalent of tying a large brick to a dog and throwing it in a river, or tearing the wings off birds,” said the judge.  
The court heard that the figures involved in the aftermath of the incident included €80 for the vet’s fee, €100 for the removal of the pony and the value of the pony was €3,000.
On hearing this, Judge Devins said the figure of compensation which should be offered by the two men was a total of €5,000. She noted that as Mr Bourke Walsh was driving a car on the night, which was used ‘in the course of a crime’, the two men could also face driving disqualifications as a result. The judge also noted that a prison sentence could also be handed down to the two men. She put the matter back to June 9 next awaiting a probation report and the payment of compensation, before she will decide on penalties.