An animal charity has released shocking footage that shows the moment a man was caught on camera punching and kicking his dog - because he’d “gone to the toilet” inside his flat. Adam Wardle, 23, was captured on CCTV attacking a three-year-old Mastiff Cross named Bobby, with a mop behind a bin store earlier this year. In the two-minute video released by the RSPCA, Wardle, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, is seen punching Bobby as he drags him off the ground on his lead, drags the dog next to the bin, and stops as a passerby walks past. However, after the man leaves, Wardle continues to kick Bobby and strike him with a mop, bruising his face, elbows, and hocks. His left eye also suffered a cut. Wardle later pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the dog under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and appeared for sentencing at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court on October 11. In a witness statement, RSPCA inspector Vannessa Reid who accompanied a police officer following the attack, said postal workers reported seeing the dog being beaten outside the property on April 25 this year and they had seen a man walking away. After discovering the incident matched a report to the charity by South Yorkshire Police, the inspector went to an assisted accommodation block, where a housing officer went through CCTV footage sited opposite Wardle’s flat. Then inspector Reid accompanied a police officer to Wardle’s home, where he admitted the attack and when asked why he had done it, replied: “He (Bobby) ‘toileted’ inside and I got angry. Then he did it again and I got doubly angry and that’s what you’ve seen.” Bobby was collected later from the property of a friend of the defendant, where Wardle claimed he’d taken the dog “for his own safety”. The inspector took him to a vets where he was checked out and treated with painkillers. In mitigation, the court was told that the defendant had not received his medication and had taken it out on the dog because he was "in a dark place." Wardle was said to be "thoroughly ashamed" of his actions and had quickly signed the dog over to the RSPCA. The magistrates described Wardle’s prolonged attack on the animal as a "horrendous" offence and sentenced him to a 12-month community order with the requirement that he complete 20 rehabilitation activity days and 240 hours of unpaid work. The defendant, who no longer lives at the address where the attack occurred, was also ordered to pay £400 in costs and a £95 victim surcharge. Bobby is still in the RSPCA’s care and will be rehomed.
