A man who housed 10 “severely emaciated” German Shepherd dogs in filthy conditions has been jailed for three months and disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years.
Gavin Brilly (33), of Clarkstown, Rathmolyon, Co Meath, pleaded guilty at Navan District Court to six charges of cruelty and neglect of the dogs on January 26th, 2024.
A prosecuting lawyer said an Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) official and Meath County Council dog warden Alan Nolan visited the premises and found a build-up of faeces and urine on the floor of all the kennels.
In most cases, the court heard, the dogs had no option but to lay down in these conditions. All the dogs were visibly underweight and some had movement difficulty as a result.
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Conor Dowling, ISPCA chief inspector, and Mr Nolan found that six dogs on Brilly’s premises were unlicensed and just one was microchipped.
Five of the nine kennels had multiple dogs in them and were deemed too small for housing such numbers. Five of the nine kennels had no water and four others had dirty water. One dog found there was deceased and partially decomposed.
All of the dogs were “severely emaciated”, the court heard.
The dogs suffered due to a lack of care and the fact there was no food or water. Older dogs had anatomical abnormalities, which the court heard could be attributed to nutritional deficiencies.
A veterinary expert reported that the dogs were severely underweight and housed in inappropriate conditions, which led to considerable suffering, the lawyer said.
When the ISPCA official released the dogs, they ran out “and tried to lick anything that had moisture in it”, the court heard.
A defence lawyer said Brilly had entered a guilty plea at an early date to ease the burden of bringing witnesses to court and had taken total responsibility for all matters.
He admitted the dogs were neglected to a serious extent, saying his client had an unusual incident while golfing the previous October, when a ball bounced off a steel barrier and struck him, causing a concussion.
This led to Brilly having some difficulties afterwards and he was also having a “rough time” due to family issues, he added.
The lawyer handed in photographs which he said showed the dogs had previously been kept in excellent condition. Things had come apart very quickly in Brilly’s life, which led to the dogs falling into the state in which they were found, he added.
Judge Éirinn McKiernan said the case was a very serious one involving wonderful animals who relied completely on their owner.
She said their ill-treatment could not be tolerated on any level, describing it as “completely and utterly unacceptable”.
The judge imposed a three-month prison sentence on Brilly, directed him to pay costs of €23,000 and disqualified him from keeping animals for 10 years.
