A roofer who fed his neighbour's two rescued ferrets to his pet dogs has been jailed for 15 months. Axel Shane Read, 24, stole the animals, named Pumpkin and Latte, from an enclosure in Laice Cleough's back garden in Carlisle, Cumbria, on July 31, 2024.
CCTV captured the theft
CCTV footage showed two men, including Read, outside the cage at around 6:30pm. His accomplice shone a light into the cage to locate the ferrets while Read, then aged 22, opened the cage door and grabbed the pets.
The animals were later found dead under a hedge and inside a black bin. Laice posted an update on Facebook after finding her animals dead, saying they had 'bite marks to the body and trauma to their body and head'. She suggested her animals were 'potentially used as bait'.
Court hears of 'sadistic' act
A video shown to the court showed Read holding a ferret and 'trying to get' one of his dogs to have a 'go at it'. Sentencing at Carlisle Crown Court, His Honour Judge Fanning played a video where Read said one of the dead ferrets 'stinks' while trying to dispose of it.
Mr Fanning said: 'It was told during the trial that the animals express an odour when under stress. I know that both of these animals died in fear. I raise that this was an act of execution and an act of sadism.'
Judge Fanning noted Read was with a group of lads and may have been 'nudged on' to commit the act, but he did not condone how the deaths were celebrated, including Read telling his dog he was a 'good boy' after allegedly killing the animal. He added that Read's dogs were trained to kill by 'putting pressure on the neck'.
Sentencing and impact
Judge Fanning declined to suspend Read's sentence, saying that if he did not imprison him, 'other young lads may think it is acceptable to do something similar'. Read was found guilty on September 11 by a jury of five on charges including causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, both by causing a ferret to be destroyed by a dog, and causing a ferret to be taken from its protected enclosure, resulting in its death.
Laice kept the two rescue animals among 25 other ferrets in her garden. She called the police before approaching Read at his house, believing he still had the animals. Prosecutor Lucy Todd told the court an argument ensued during which Read told her: 'I don't have your stinky ferrets. If I had taken your ferrets, I would have skinned them and left them outside your front door.' Read also threatened to destroy her car and home.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Laice said the incident left her paranoid and scared to live in her own home. Alongside his prison sentence, Read was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge.
