Adam Blackwell subjected his XL Bully puppy Milo to a campaign of torture and abuse that left it needing to be put down
A sick dog owner subjected a young puppy to a savage ordeal which left it with multiple broken ribs, broken legs and cigarette burns to its face.
Adam Blackwell, 26, repeatedly kicked his XL Bully called Milo, who was only 14 weeks old when he bought him and started to abuse it, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
The pup was locked in a cage without food or water, failed to get veterinary help and when he did, the defendant falsely told them his animal’s injuries were down to him falling from a mattress, a market stall and a table.
When the RSPCA finally managed to get Milo to a vet, his injuries were so severe the only humane way of treating him was to put him down.
Jailing him for two-and-a-half years, Judge Stuart Rafferty KC said: “You deliberately and sadistically kicked and punched him.
“You broke its bones and it could hardly walk,” Nottinghamshire Live reports.
“You forced it into a cage with no bedding, no water and no food.
“Every day that dog was alive in its short life it would have been in agony.
“Animals, just like children, expect and demand to be cared for properly.
“They don’t choose their owners, they don’t have a say in that.
“There can’t have been a single happy day in that dog’s life.”
Philip Brown, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said Blackwell bought Milo in June 2023 and was living in accommodation in Mansfield which had a communal garden.
He said a neighbour raised the alarm when she heard him shouting at the dog and the RSPCA became involved.
The prosecutor said: “She heard him shouting ‘I told you not to bite me and that’s what you get for biting’ and then heard the dog screaming.
“When an RSPCA inspector saw Milo he noticed him cowered around the defendant but his demeanour changed around the inspector.
“He noticed it was lame and took him to an RSPCA vet who noted the right hind leg was unable to work and he had lesions to his face.
“These were later found to be consistent with cigarette burns.
“Such were the injuries the prognosis was hopeless and the only humane way of dealing with Milo was euthanasia.”
Blackwell, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and also possession of a knuckle duster and cannabis for a later incident which saw him stopped and searched.
He has four previous convictions for nine offences and the later offences saw him breach a suspended sentence order for possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs.
Tom Welshman, mitigating, said: “Mr Blackwell speaks of himself in his letter as him carrying out ‘despicable behaviour’ which he knows there is no excuse for.
“He is a man with his issues and difficulties and he was unable to deal with his anger and the issues he had with substances and people and he took that out on Milo.
“That’s a very sad situation and he’s sorry for that.”
As well as the jail term, the judge disqualified the defendant from keeping an animal indefinitely.
An RSPCA spokesperson said: “This was an incredibly upsetting case to deal with for all involved.
“Milo was a loving puppy whose short life was dominated by awful suffering inflicted by the very person who was supposed to care for and protect him.
“We are thankful to the person who provided us with the video evidence as we rely on the public to be our eyes and ears so we can help animals like MIlo who do not have a voice.”
