Heartbreaking moment ‘sadistic’ farmer drags husky behind car for 300m before dog died from horror injuries
A “SADISTIC” farmer dragged a husky along a road behind his car for over 300 metres and then went for a haircut – before it died from its injuries.
Kim Rendall, 65, was seen by horrified motorists pulling the pet named Daisy behind his red Nissan Micra along a busy road by a rope for 55 seconds.
Dashcam footage showed the terrified nine-year-old pooch “bouncing” along the road and “scrabbling to try and stay up” in “complete distress”.
Jessica Kelly, who was driving behind Rendall who was driving at an average 11mph, said in a witness statement: “I was screaming, panicking and desperately trying to get the man to stop.
“I was horrified by the blood on the road and the length of time it went on.”
The dog was left bleeding heavily with its skin ripped from its paws and hind legs.
Lindi Meyer, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told how Rendall was reported to cops who went to his nearby home and found him having a cup of tea and getting his haircut by his sister.
He “sadistically” refused to tell officers where the dog was and lied by saying it was in the back of his car.
Police launched a hunt for Daisy with 18 officers and a drone following the incident in High Littleton, near Bath, Somerset, on April 17.
They found it tied up in a barn belonging to Rendall three hours later unable to walk with injuries including “degloving” where the “skin had been ripped from the bone”.
The husky was taken by police car with flashing blue lights to a nearby vet – but it was put down nine days later after becoming “aggressive and unpredictable.”
Ms Meyer said: “There were painful and complicated wounds. Her pain could not be controlled.
“The decision was made to euthanise her.”
PC Natalie Cosgrove, then animal welfare officer for Avon and Somerset Police, was at the vets when Daisy was brought in and interviewed Rendall the following day.
She said: “When I first saw the injuries I welled up in tears.
“Rendall showed no remorse for his actions.
“He was almost smirking in interview.”
Rendall, dressed in a white shirt with a red poppy on his breast, was described as a “good natured, hardworking man” who looked after his cattle well and helped elderly in the community and cut the church grass.
He claimed the dog, which was owned by his son, was tied up in the boot of the car but must have jumped or fallen out and he did not see or hear the car behind flashing and beeping at him to stop.
In mitigation, magistrates heard he worked for many years as a drover at nearby cattle auctions and “would never act maliciously towards an animal.”
Rendall, who wiped tears with a handkerchief throughout the hearing, admitted causing unnecessary suffering by failing to protect the animal from injury, and failing to get it the necessary veterinary care.
He will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on November 21.