Man who beat dog with axe handle and left it terrified of men is banned from keeping animals

By Kathryn Wylie

December 19 2021, 5:00 pm

Thomas Robertson beat his dog Nala to her injury.

A man who cruelly beat his dog with an axe handle and left her terrified of men has been banned from owning animals.

Thomas Robertson repeatedly beat his female bulldog over the head and body with an axe handle, his fists and a dog lead, leaving her with bruising, flesh wounds and bald patches.

The unemployed 27-year-old was caught after animal cruelty officers paid a visit to his home in Aberdeen.

Inside they found a 15-month-old bulldog named Nala, who was so traumatised she would become “frozen with fear” if a man entered the room.

Witness heard dog ‘yelping’ in pain

Fiscal despite Jen Pritchard told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that SSPCA inspectors had been tipped off from a concerned neighbour in the early hours of October 16, last year.

“On arrival, they were met by the accused,” she said. “They advised him that someone had overheard a dog being possibly mistreated in the early hours.

“He showed the officers the dog, whose name was Nala. The female bull-type dog was in the kitchen behind and being kept behind a stair gate.”

The inspectors suspected Nala had been beaten given there was bruising to her head and marks on her neck.

Robertson’s girlfriend told them she had been asleep but “did hear Nala yelping when she woke up”, the court heart.

As the inspectors were leaving an officer noticed a wooden handle in Anderson’s home and asked him if it had been used on Nala.

“He said it was a shaft of an axe but denied using it on the dog,” the fiscal added.

Vet spotted signs of abuse

A vet later examined Nala and immediately spotted wounds that were “consistent with that of a beating” as well as evidence that a blunt object has been used.

It was during that examination that it became clear Nala had been traumatised and was now nervous around men.

“A male veterinary surgeon entered the all-female room and Nala was visibly scared and frozen in fear until he left the room,” the fiscal added.

“She was nervous but relaxed during the examination. Her demeanour only changed when a male colleague entered the room.”

Nala was found to have bruising to her right ear that was “painful upon touching” and that the vet deemed had occurred in the previous 48 hours.

There was also bruising on her chin, full-thickness skin injuries on her ear, rib cage, both shoulders, her neck and her hip. Further healing injuries were spotted on Nala’s left hind leg.

She had hairless areas on her shoulder and neck and the skin injuries were deemed “consistent with being hit repeatedly with an object”.

‘She would have been severely distressed’

“The surgeon stated that for her to have been beaten in this manner would have caused the dog fear and alarm,” the fiscal added. “She would have been severely distressed.”

Nala was taken to the SSPCA’s local rescue and rehoming centre at Drumoak, where she remains and is doing “much better”.

Defence agent Ian MacGregor said Robertson’s own admissions to social workers had actually provided a more “graphic” account of Nala’s abuse than that heard by the court.

“His conduct was absolutely appalling,” he said. “He has had issues in his life with respect to dealing with anger and he has taken steps previously off his own back to be seen by a psychiatrist in that regard.

“He doesn’t seek to excuse his conduct. He is under no illusion that this is an offence which could easily attract a custodial sentence but I would seek to persuade your ladyship to impose an alternative.”

Blamed his anger issues

Robertson admitted causing the dog unnecessary suffering at an intermediate diet last month.

Sheriff Margaret Hodge told him: “What I am told in the social work report does cause me concern about your propensity to violence, which was demonstrated by what you did to this dog.”

She handed him a community payback order comprising supervision for one year and a nighttime curfew lasting 100 days.