Thursday, July 28, 2011

Grandmother convicted of animal cruelty and made to wear electronic tag... for being too upset to put elderly dog down

UK Daily Mail

'Humiliated': Pauline Spoor with her electronic tag

'Humiliated': Pauline Spoor with her electronic tag

When her loyal labrador became old, frail and slow, pensioner Pauline Spoor simply couldn’t bear to have him put down.

Living alone, she relied on the constant companionship of 18-year-old Dexter, who although suffering from severe arthritis and conjunctivitis, would sit quietly by her feet.

But while Mrs Spoor accepts her devotion to her sickly pet was misguided, it has brought a draconian response from authorities which has left her shocked, humiliated and, she says, treated like a common yob.

The 71-year-old was this week hauled before the courts where, convicted of animal cruelty, she was ordered to wear an electronic tag on her ankle as part of a three-month curfew.

And the grandmother has been warned that if she breaks the community order, which forbids her leaving her house at night, she could even be sent to prison. Yesterday Mrs Spoor said: ‘I know I’ve done wrong but I feel absolutely humiliated at having to wear a tag as if I am some common criminal. It just seems so over the top...[Full Article]