Dog dies after Nairn man's 'incredible act of cruelty'

A dog starved to death in a Nairn property after being abandoned by the man who was supposed to be looking after it.

The American Staffordshire bull terrier named Duke chewed anything that was in the house in Church Street including a sofa, its foam filling and food tins in its vain battle to survive.

Other household items had also been chewed as the one-and-a-half-year-old canine struggled to stay alive in its unheated accommodation between September 23, 2021 and February 4, 2022.

When its skeletal and decomposing remains were the subject of a post mortem, Duke weighed only 14kg, roughly half what an adult dog should.

Brian Farmer (24), of Church Street, Nairn appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court and pleaded guilty to causing the dog unnecessary suffering by failing to provide it with access to food or water whereby it starved to death.

He also admitted abandoning the dog.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank deferred sentence on Farmer until September 11 for a background report and a restriction of liberty order assessment.

The sheriff asked fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh to view photographs of the animal and addressed Farmer: "It seems this is an incredible act of cruelty towards an animal on your part."

Defence solicitor David Patterson told the sheriff he would reserve his full plea of mitigation until the report had been prepared. But he said: "It was not my client's dog. It had been left in his care."

Ms Duffy-Welsh told the court that Highland Council officials had broken into the property after it had been left unoccupied for some time.

"Because of the state it was in, industrial cleaners were called in and they found the dog," she said. "The SSPCA were then informed on February 4 and it was obvious it had been dead for several weeks.

"Duke was lying on the floor near a chewed up sofa and the room had various other chewed up items, including food tins, packets and the sofa's foam."