A man and a woman who battered a dog before putting his body into a suitcase and dumping it were rumbled because the case had one of their names on it. The pair have now pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges.
On Monday (November 28), Christy Hewitt, 21, and Chantelle Duvall-Gregory, 20, admitted in court that they battered and abused their two-year-old Belgian Shepherd Snoop, who was found dead inside a bright pink locked suitcase by a dog walker on the banks of a river on January 11 this year, reports the LiverpoolECHO.
The pair admitted to three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to Snoop by beating him, failing to provide an adequate diet, and failing to take him to a vet when necessary. They also pleaded guilty to one count of breaching their duties as people responsible for ensuring the welfare of an animal.
The offences took place between April 1 and December 22, 2021, at the couple's former home on Winfield Road, Garston, Sefton Magistrates' Court was told.
Wirral RSPCA inspector Anthony Joynes said: "The dog was found in a suitcase on the banks of the River Mersey and that's how these crimes have come to light. Chantelle Duvall-Gregory's name was found on the suitcase.
"It was a dog walker that found Snoop. He was tightly packed into the suitcase on the banks of the River Mersey. The dog was found in a reasonable condition, but he was wrapped up."
Duvall-Gregory, of no fixed abode, and Hewitt, of Parkfield Road in Aigburth, will appear for sentencing at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on January 9, 2023.
