Man who kicked his pet dog ‘Buttons’ to death is jailed

A man who kicked his pet dog up and down a street “like a football” and then burned its remains has been jailed for a total of 18 months.

Christopher Foy was seen by a neighbour attacking the dog late at night.

Foy (27) claims he was high on drink and drugs when he carried out the attack on the pup named ‘Buttons’.

Pensioner Carrie Pringle, a neighbour of Foy’s in the village of Mountcharles, said she saw him “kicking the dog in the air like a football.”

However, when Ms Pringle opened her window and shouted at the accused, he picked up the dog and walked on.

Flatmates of Foy said he had gone for a walk late in the evening of January 24th last but returned 10 minutes later without the dog.

Garda Sgt Oliver Devenney told Letterkenny Circuit Court how the dog, a small terrier, had been found with severe scorch marks to its body.

A visitor to Foy’s flat, Gary Walsh, told gardaí that he witnessed the accused kicking the dog out the door and then squeezing its neck.

An examination on its remains later found that the dog had died as a result of a ruptured liver following blunt force trauma.

Foy said that at the time he was taking between 20 and 50 Benzodiazepine tablets a day as his medication had not been working.

He was also mixing this with alcohol.

He said he was devastated having learned that he had killed his pup which was just about 12 months old.

He told the probation services “I’ve killed Buttons due to my drinking and drugs. I loved this dog with all my heart and I couldn’t imagine hurting her. I didn’t mean to kill her but this was a week of destruction and my medication was not working,” he said.

Ms Pringle, who had witnessed Foy kick the dog repeatedly, told the court in a statement that she felt Foy could be rehabilitated.

“His actions on that night was a result of drugs. I’m convinced he could make a life for himself if he gets off drugs,” she said.

Mass card

Foy was also charged with making threats to kill the father of his ex-partner.

Foy admits sending a mass card in the name of the IRA to Cyprian Gallagher.

The card was left on Mr Gallagher’s doorstep and he suspected that Foy, who had a child with his daughter Shannon, was responsible.

Gardaí called to a number of shops which sold mass cards. A mass card had been bought at Timoney’s News in Donegal Town.

Upon examining CCTV, gardaí discovered it was Foy who had purchased the card.

He initially denied the charge but later admitted to gardaí that he had sent the card.

He also admitted to a charge of criminal damage after causing more than €1,500 of damage to the flat in which he was a tenant in Mountcharles.

Barrister for Foy, Peter Nolan said his client had been addicted to tablets and had received psychiatric treatment at St Conal’s Psychiatric Unit in Letterkenny for two days.

He said his client’s father had died when he was just 12 months old and he had left school at 16 and was barely able to read or write.

On killing his dog, Mr Nolan said: “He destroyed the only thing he loved.”

Judge John Aylmer sentencing Foy said it was clear Foy was a person in need of significant treatment for his addictions.

He sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in jail for making threats to kill, a further 18 months for cruelty to an animal and nine months for the criminal damage of his apartment.

He also ordered that all sentences are to run concurrently and suspended the last 12 months of the case while backdating the sentence to February last when Foy entered Castlerea Prison.

Judge Aylmer also made an order that Foy seek the necessary treatment for his addictions as part of his order.

He also banned Foy, who had 33 previous convictions for a range of offences including public order, theft and criminal damage, from keeping animals for life.