Man caught on CCTV abusing two dogs

BILLINGHAM – Sickening CCTV footage from Prior Court, Billingham, captured Hardy inflicting a litany of abuse on two terrified dogs. The distressing footage showed Thomas Hardy, 32, punching his Cockapoo five times before strangling her, compressing her chest between his legs and swinging her around by the neck.

In one clip, he was caught throwing the terrified Cockapoo into a lift, before kicking her and then smashing the security camera. The security footage was taken from Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, in County Durham.

In a separate incident, Hardy was seen grabbing another dog by the neck before violently putting him on a lead, dropping him to the floor and yanking him off his front feet. The heartbreaking footage was passed to the RSPCA by the police and an investigation by the animal welfare charity followed.

During his sentencing he received a twelve-week custodial, suspended for 24 months, for each charge, a thinking skills programme and he is disqualified from dealing or participating in keeping any animals for 12 years.