# Man jailed for letting guard dogs die in hot van



## testmg80 (Jul 28, 2008)

Sky had already died when 
RSPCA inspectors found the dogs

A security guard who killed two dogs he worked with by keeping them inside a hot van for an hour in Stoke-on-Trent has been jailed for three months.

Lee Ellerton, 37, of Riley Street North, Burslem, left German shepherd Sky and Belgian shepherd dog Duke in his van in Abbey Hulton on 1 July.

Stoke-on-Trent Magistrates' Court heard that a member of the public called the RSPCA after seeing the dogs in the van.

Sky had already died and Duke had collapsed and was unable to move.

Duke was taken to a vet and later had to be put down.

The RSPCA told the court that the outside temperature would have been about 30C (86F) and it was one of the hottest days of 2009.

Ellerton, who worked as a dog handler, was found guilty of a total of six charges of animal cruelty.

The dogs had been left in the van for about an hour 
He said he did not know the fan in the van was only an air extractor and not an air conditioning unit.

An independent vet said in a statement to the court that the humidity and temperature would have led to a complete metabolic shutdown of both dogs' organs.

The court was told that Duke's body temperature had become so high it did not register on a thermometer.

Magistrates said they could only give Ellerton a custodial sentence because he had been in a position of special responsibility as a dog handler.

Ellerton, from Burslem, has lodged an appeal to the city's crown court, but he was refused bail pending the hearing.

RSCPA inspector Julie Lyons said outside court: "This was a really silly thing to do, there was no common sense applied that day.

"It's important for people to know not to leave an animal in a vehicle unattended, not just on a hot day but even a warm day."

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## jesshan (Jan 16, 2010)

The poor dogs. didn't a police offers do the same last year too? What happened to him?


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