Monday 22nd December 2008
By
Rachel Wearmouth
The Northern Echo
A MAN who stamped a ferret to death has been banned from owning animals
for ten years.
Jonathan Francis Proud, of Westfield, Frosterley, in Cuonty Durham,
pleaded guilty to crushing the head of a female fawn ferret at Bishop
Auckland Magistrates' Court.
The animal belonged to a family he lived near.
Thirty-year-old Proud found the animal wandering the estate where he
lives and went over to it.
But when the frightened animal bit him, Kevin Campbell, prosecuting
on behalf of the RSPCA, said Proud stamped on its head and killed it.
The court heard that Proud, who has a low intellect, had been bitten
before and lost control when the animal retaliated.
Mitigating, Elaine Lamballe, said Proud had mental problems and submitted
a medical report to the court.
She added: "In his young and adult life the defendant has had extensive
psychological interventions and has a very low intellect. I think that
is apparent."
Proud was fined £250 and banned from owning animals for ten years,
though he can apply for the order to be lifted in five.
Chairman of the bench Gregory Hart, said: "Consider yourself a very
lucky young man.
"What you did was totally unacceptable, that is no way to treat an
animal or any life." |
Ferret News 
