Conor Ward: Man guilty of ‘harrowing’ animal cruelty after starving dogs turned on each other

After Conor Ward abandoned the five dogs and left them with neither food nor water nor bedding, they turned on one of the dogs and effectively ripped its throat out before beginning to eat the carcass.

At Ballymena Magistrates Court on Wednesday, District Judge Nigel Broderick imposed a six-month prison sentence on 32-year-old Ward, who was freed on bail pending appeal.

“I cannot imagine a more serious and harrowing case of animal cruelty,” said the judge.

Ward, from Cranny Avenue in Carnlough, was also banned from keeping, owning or transporting any animals for 20 years.

Last December the 32-year-old admitted five of the seven charges against him committed back in 2020 at an address in Glenarm, including three counts of causing dogs to suffer unnecessarily and two charges of failing to meet the reasonable needs of the dogs — four Staffordshire bull terriers and an English bull terrier.

The court heard how a neighbour had reported dogs fighting and that there was the dead body of a dog in the concrete backyard of the house in Glenarm.

​Council investigators had obtained a warrant and when they entered the vacant property, they found four underweight dogs — along with the partially eaten body of one of the Staffies.

An autopsy revealed the dog had died as a result of “significant trauma to the upper respiratory tract” while the four living dogs all had puncture wounds and bite marks of varying ages but some were still fresh and bleeding.

On Wednesday the judge said it was no surprise that having been left with neither food nor water, the dogs began fighting to such an extent that one was killed and the other four “no doubt starving of food, resorted to eating it”. One female Staffy was found “hiding in the back of a kennel and took some coaxing and reassurance” to entice her out. The court was told that in the space of just a few days, two of the starved dogs have each gained just over two kilos and all four dogs have been successfully rehomed.

Commenting on the case, a spokesperson for Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said: “Council gives a high priority to the welfare of domestic pets and horses and operates a rigorous enforcement policy to ensure full compliance of regulatory requirements.

“Complaints are investigated thoroughly and where necessary formal action is taken, which may include the service of improvement notices, or in extreme cases, seizure of animals.

“The council may also prosecute for offences such as in this case which I hope serves as a warning to anyone who does not take appropriate care of animals”.