Owner paid a stranger to chop the ears off his two American Bullies
A DOG owner from Tullow was banned for life from owning a dog and will have to pay €4,400 after he admitted to having his pets’ ears cut off.
Last week Carlow District Court heard that the owner paid a stranger to crop the ears off two dogs, American Bullies, so that they would look more fierce.
Mr Ali Zeeshan Ali of Castlemore, Tullow pleaded guilty to six offences under the ***Animal Health and Welfare Act*** after ISPCA inspector Fiona Conlon found the two American Bullies at his house in Tullow on 2 November 2021.
“This man had his dogs’ ears cropped barbarically. It’s completely illegal,” Fiona told ***The Nationalist***. “We need to get the word out that this is illegal and that we (the ISPCA) are cracking down on it. This is not allowed because it causes so much suffering for the dogs. It’s not normal and it must be stopped.”
In court, Ms Conlon said that when she called to Mr Ali’s house, she found the two dogs with their ears cropped. She said that their ears were infected and still bleeding, and that the cartilage had been “hacked”. She continued that the ears had been sewn up with thread that would be used for sewing soft furnishings such as a sofa and that medical thread had not been used. The thread and the stitching, the court heard, were causing as much pain and damage as the cropping of the ears.
“It’s illegal and barbaric,” said Ms Conlon. “They do it to make the dogs look tougher.”
Ms Conlon continued that the defendant told her he had given the dogs to “a man on Moore Street, Dublin” – a man he didn’t know – to cut the dogs’ ears off, and then, when it had been done, got the dogs back from the stranger.
Ms Conlon also said that dogs “use their ears to express themselves” and that although the two dogs were now healthy and safe, they still had no ears.
The court was told that the dogs were worth about €3,000 and that it wasn’t illegal in certain countries – such as America, where that breed of dog originated – to crop its ears.
Solicitor John O’Sullivan told Judge Geraldine Carthy that Mr Ali was Pakistani and was an employer as he owned a shop. He continued that Mr Ali’s wife intended to come to Ireland soon and that he was concerned a criminal conviction would impact negatively on her application for residency.
Judge Carthy replied that the defendant was “gone beyond the ***Probation Act***” and told Mr Ali that the only reason he didn’t receive a custodial sentence was his guilty plea. She said that the “facts were stark” and described what Mr Ali had done as “inexcusable”.
She then convicted the defendant of the offences and fined him €1,000, while also ordering him to pay €2,500 costs to the ISPCA and a further €900 in veterinary bills. She also issued him with a lifelong disqualification order from owning a dog.
