Two dogs were left to starve to death after being left locked inside crates at a flat in Lurgan despite concerns raised with the authorities by neighbours on numerous occasions over many months.
Details were revealed on Thursday morning’s Nolan Show, when it was revealed that one of the dog’s was found with its teeth wrapped around the bars of a crate it had been trying to chew its way out of.
The smell was so bad, according to presenter Stephen Nolan, who was at the scene when the dogs’ remains were discovered on Monday, that neighbours had believed there was something wrong with the sewers, and police officers were physically sick after attending.
Now Nolan – and his guest, DUP Upper Bann MLA Jonathan Buckley – has said “serious questions” needed to be answered as to how this was allowed to happen.
Questions have also been raised over ABC Council’s ability to protect animals in its jurisdiction, with staff levels depleted due to sickness.
Nolan spoke to a neighbour, Philip, who had raised his concerns back in mid-March and contacted the PSNI on eight occasions.
Philip also contacted council, by phone and email, but despite his interventions, the dogs were “left at the property to die”.
The presenter said that the dogs had suffered “an excruciating death” and despite residents “repeatedly” pleading for help, not enough was done to save them.
He has directly challenged ABC Council to provide answers but the local authority has so far not made any public comment.
The resident interviewed said he had been told it was not a police matter.
Multiple calls to ABC Council did not allay Philip’s concerns, as he told the BBC Radio Ulster show: “The council was contacted, emails sent, emails back saying that it would be investigated, but clearly no-one has investigated it, because if someone had investigated it, them two dogs would still be alive.”
The neighbour said he could hear the “dogs barking inside the property” and the authorities were informed the tenant had not returned.
“Up until April and May, you could hear them barking,” he said. “Once I heard them stop barking, I thought that he had come back and took the dogs or else he’s moved out because the whole flat looked empty to me.”
Philip told the show he had been informed by police if he tried to enter the property to get to the dogs he could face possible charges of criminal damage and breaking and entering.
Neighbours noticed a smell from towards the “end of June, middle of July”.
Nolan – who had attended the scene with a film crew for a forthcoming series of his TV show Peelers – described the scene when he arrived there on Monday: “That smell was so pungent, that smell was the smell of death, and it was so strong. I was standing in the street, and someone who had been up in the house, one of the police officers who had been up in the house, came out of the house, got into the car with me, and I could smell it, the smell had stuck to her clothes.”
The resident – a dog owner himself – described what had happened as “absolutely heartbreaking”, adding: “Once I found out on Monday night the animals had been found I cried my eyes out and they weren’t even my animals.”
The presenter told listeners that the incident raised serious questions as to how, after repeated calls of concern, “nobody intervened to save these animals”.
“When the PSNI entered that property, one of the dogs was found inside the crate,” he said. “The dog had starved to death and its little teeth were wrapped around the bars of the crate, where it had been trying to chew its way out, and that’s how it died.”
And Nolan continued: “This story is about a local community contacting the authorities, repeatedly contacting them, saying we’re deeply concerned about these animals. And help did not come to these animals and they’ve suffered a death, the horrendous, horrific death that I’ve described.
“There is absolutely no doubt about it that Armagh, Banbridge, and Craigavon Council have serious questions to answer around this. When we have put questions to them, basic questions, like after all of the repeated calls of concern from the local community, how many times did they go out and visit this property, they have responded to the Nolan Show by saying, as police inquiries are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment on the specific circumstances of the matter at this stage.”
Clearly angry, the presenter challenged that response, adding: “Why not? Are you lot serious in that council? It wouldn’t be appropriate to inform the public about how many times you went out? You think you’re going to get away with that on this programme, do you? So for every councillor in Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon, this is a community trying to team up with the council who repeatedly phoned the council, it is your statutory duty as a council to protect animals in the area.
“So to ABC Council this morning, this programme repeats our questions to you. How many reports of concern did you get? How many staff are available for duty? Because I have put it to you, a question, for example, how does the council respond to the accusation that the welfare team is so short of available staff, who are off sick, that you are unable to protect animals, in danger, in the local area? And a question about staffing, the council is attempting to tell you the public, that it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to answer that because of a police inquiry. What on earth has it got to do with a police inquiry, how many staff you’ve got, and whether you’ve adequate resources to protect the animals in the public’s local area? Get real and answer the questions.”
Upper Bann MLA Jonathan Buckley – who said he was “absolutely horrified” by the details that had been related – told the show he had been in contact with council and had been assured an investigation would be carried out.
“When my constituents first made me aware of this following the police finding these two animals in which you were present, I just couldn’t believe the level of negligence that had taken place on what I would only describe as a multi-agency failure,” he said. “The public – I think this is why I’m angry this morning – the public did everything right. They flagged the concerns with every relevant agency, and time and time again, their calls were not taken seriously, it would seem.
“There was neglect and negligence which ultimately has led to what I would describe as a case of abject animal cruelty.”
Mr Buckley said he had put questions to council, the PSNI and to Arbor Housing, which owned the property.
The DUP representative then read the contents of the initial email from a neighbour raising “major concerns regarding two dogs being neglected” which was sent on March 16:
“The two dogs are in crates without food and water and most likely in their own faeces. Please can someone check on these animals? I haven’t slept due to worry. One dog is a Staffy called Jovi. She is in the first crate as you enter the property. The second dog is a little white dog called Lola. She is in a crate in the bathroom. Both of these dogs are lovely dogs. They just want attention and love. Please, can someone check on these two dogs and come back to me? They’re so pleasant and deserve so much better.”
He said the council had responded, saying concerns had been logged and an animal welfare officer would investigate.
“That is the last direct contact anybody has with that lady reference that email,” said Mr Buckley. “There was numerous voicemails left with an out of doors dog warden, nobody ever responded. There was a physical call made to the council, put through to a dog warden. They said the same. Well look, we will look into it, but if we can’t get into the property, there’s not much we can do.
“But the council aren’t the only person here. The PSNI have been repeatedly called. I have a police reference number, which the constituent gives at the very early stages of this. They were told that there were dogs in this property. In fact, they knew that, they’d seen them in the first instance. And still, after repeated calls, nothing was done. That is negligence and neglect.”
The MLA added: “If I was a police officer in Lurgan Police Station and I received that report, I would have put the boot through the door myself, like the constituent, to try to get those dogs out of that property. Because they knew, they knew at that stage that these dogs potentially were at risk because they’d been told repeatedly.”
Mr Buckley said he had contacted Arbor Housing who had been “very transparent”; he said they had met with the tenant, as far back as March, where they knew the dogs were in the property and they were fine and “safe at that stage”.
In August there were reports of flies and smells at the property, with the presenter describing again his own experience on arrival: “It was just a couple of days ago when the police were forcing their way into the property. The smell was that bad that I had to stand on the other side of the road. I couldn’t go anywhere near that property, or I would have retched. The smell was so pungent. There were police officers who were being sick because they had gone into that house.
“I then spoke to other residents who were living around the vicinity of it. For many, many days they had been scrubbing their bathrooms, scrubbing everything around the area, thinking to themselves that there was a massive problem with the sewers. In other words, there were massive signs that there’s something wrong here, like stark signs.”
Mr Buckley again described it as “abject negligence”, adding: “There’s serious questions to answer here. There’s serious questions for the police. There’s serious questions for the council because, and this is my fear, this has exposed a significant failing in animal welfare legislation, because if one part of the system’s not talking to the other part of the system, and there’s potentially animals that are falling through the cracks, what does it say for perhaps this happening in other places? We just don’t find out.”
Nolan, again directing questions to council, said: “A number of residents have told me that Armagh Council is so depleted in the number of staff available working within the animal welfare unit, because people are off sick, that they can’t cope. Now, you put that question to the council because that’s about an ongoing risk. That council area is big. That’s about an ongoing risk to other animals and safety in the area and Armagh Council can’t even respond to whether there’s a problem or not. Well, what is going on?”
Mr Buckley, meanwhile, said that position was not “sustainable”.
“I have corresponded with the chief executive directly and there will be answers. She’s told me that this is being investigated,” he added. “I will be meeting with the council to discuss this. I know that the claim is that whenever animal welfare responsibilities were transferred to councils, that it didn’t come with adequate funding packages from the Department, and therefore, it’s been difficult. To me, that’s irrelevant in this case.
“This case is clear cut, in my opinion, whenever you have constituents and citizens coming forward, and this is why they’re so angry today and reaching out. The mood in Lurgan is palpable, because they’ve seen the warnings, put it through to the relevant organisations, and again, everybody seemed to pass the buck. That’s central to this story. So whenever it comes to what happens next, I want to see clarity and transparency from the PSNI regarding the type and nature of the calls that they have received and their actions and, again, the same with council.”
Last night (Wednesday), the PSNI confirmed that a 47-year-old man has been charged with abandoning an animal and causing unnecessary suffering to animals.
He is due to appear in court on Wednesday, September 9 when, as is usual procedure, the charges will be reviewed by the PPS.
