Joseph Shaun Whittam aged 32 of Greenset Close, Lancaster, has been sent to prison for 23 weeks after appearing at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court on Friday January 20. He was sentenced to 23 weeks of custody for two offences in regards to a dog and sentenced to 18 weeks of custody for each of the breaches of a disqualification order that will also run concurrently.

Whittam, who had initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea on the first day of the trial was jailed for causing unnecessary suffering to a brown Patterdale terrier known as Thugly by failing to provide veterinary treatment for its injuries after it was attacked by a wild mammal. He also failed to take steps to ensure that the dog’s needs were met in that he let him engage in an encounter with a wild mammal, leading to him becoming injured.

Whittam was also in breach of a disqualification order which banned him for keeping animals for life by keeping four ferrets and the dog. 

The animals were found in a joint raid by the RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit and officers from Lancashire Police on April 1 2021. The raid was carried out due to a suspected breach of a lifetime disqualification order made by magistrates in December 2018.

It is good to see that in this case magistrates decided to impose custodial sentences for breaching a lifetime ban. This has not always been the case and clearly such bans are useless if they are not backed up with serious punishment if ignored.