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🚨 SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR BEATING & STRANGLING A FRENCH BULLDOG TO DEATH
🚨 CONVICTED | Luke Walker, 23, from #birkenhead, #wirral, #merseyside - beat a French bulldog to death.
Walker pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. He also admitted a further charge of criminal damage relating to the dog, a five-year-old French bulldog called Buddy.
The court heard that Walker was left in charge of Buddy by a relative, but during the time the dog was in his care he was said to have been repeatedly beaten and strangled. A final attack led to the dog’s death on 10 September 2025.
While RSPCA Inspector Anthony Joynes was investigating a separate allegation, Walker admitted to killing Buddy months previously because he defecated and urinated at his home.
When the officer visited Walker’s flat on 12 January 2026, the defendant told him he had beaten Buddy numerous times over a three-week period.
In a statement presented to the court, Inspector Joynes said, “When the defendant returned to his flat, he found faeces and urine everywhere and so he beat Buddy and also attempted to suffocate him. He then left the dog on some cushions where he passed away.”
On 11 September 2025, Walker telephoned the owner to tell her Buddy had died in his flat, although “he didn’t know how”. Blood was later found on some sheets at the defendant’s home.
When she went around after the dog had died, she spotted injuries to his spine and ribs as well as front and back legs. She observed the canine’s left hindlimb was “twisted the wrong way”.
The dog’s owner said Walker told her that on 8 September, he had punched Buddy in the ribs repeatedly, then suffocated him. He told her he heard his ribs crack and that he “battered the dog within an inch of life then suffocated him”.
When he was interviewed by the RSPCA, Walker claimed that after his mental health deteriorated, he started to hit Buddy for soiling his flat and on one occasion, he believed he “had gone too far” and Buddy yelped so he stopped.
He said that on 10 September he’d had an argument with his father and was “losing his head”. When he returned to the flat where there were faeces and urine everywhere, he attacked Buddy because he was angry, punching him several times to the body and head.
He continued to punch the dog when he returned to his bed and kicked him twice. Buddy was injured and unable to walk and Walker placed a pillow over him, but then stopped after the dog struggled.
The court heard the defendant had "anger issues" for which he had not sought any help.
Speaking after the sentencing, Inspector Joynes said, “This was a truly appalling set of circumstances where this poor dog was placed in the care of this defendant who was clearly unsuited to provide a loving home for Buddy.
“He took out his anger on the dog because he said he’d had an argument with his father.
"Buddy suffered a terrible death at the hands of an angry, violent man.”
Sentencing | 17-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months; 150 hours of unpaid work; 20 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) days. Lifetime ban on keeping dogs.
Source UKACF.
English
