Owner ‘screamed head off’ when he saw dog being made to kill his cat

He says the dog owner's sentence of 18 weeks is not long enough.

The owner of a cat deliberately mauled to death by a dog ‘screamed his head off’ when he saw the attack on CCTV.

Gary Truefitt, 60, said he ‘couldn’t believe’ what he was seeing as he watched Amos Price, 30, encourage his lurcher-type dog to go after cat Cleo.

The thug was filmed opening a gate to let his dog into the garden, in Walsall, West Midlands, before dragging it over to Mr Truefitt’s pet, triggering the mauling.

He was sentenced to 18 weeks behind bars after he admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

Mr Truefitt said he thought Price should have jailed for more than a year, calling his actions that night ‘disgusting’.

Warning: Distressing footage.

He continued: ‘It would give me some sort of closure if I could have her cremated, if I knew where her body was.

‘The dog carried her off after it killed her.’

He added his life now felt ’empty’ without Cleo, having previously told the court he was struggling to sleep.

Mr Truefitt said: ‘She’s not there when I wake up in the morning, laying there on the bed. It just seems totally different in my flat now.’

Price claimed in court he was drunk at the time of the attack and would not have committed the offence had he been sober.

Defence lawyer Mandeep Sehmi said the father-of-two had since received death threats, after RSPCA released the CCTV footage during a call for his arrest.

Passing sentence, chairman of the bench Brian Benton told Price that the Walsall Magistrates’ Court was restricted to a maximum sentence of 26 weeks.

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He said: ‘Due to your guilty plea, you are entitled to a reduction of one-third, to 18 weeks.

‘However, due to the circumstances, we would if we were actually permitted to do so have imposed a far greater custodial sentence.’

Price was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £122 and £250 in compensation to Mr Truefitt.

He blew a kiss towards the public gallery as he was taken to the cells.