Hartlepool man jailed for 'savage' dog attack

Image caption Coco, who has been renamed Maggie, is recovering well

A man who repeatedly beat his dog, leaving it with 29 fractured bones, has been jailed.

Coco, a Shih Tzu type dog, was left with a broken pelvis, multiple broken ribs and fractures and bruising.

The court heard how the "savage" attack left her in a condition likened to having been in a traffic collision.

Christopher Watson, 19, of Hartlepool. was jailed for 18 weeks and banned from keeping animals for life at the town's magistrates court.

RSPCA inspector Aislinn Balderston said: "This dog had suffered such appalling injuries it is harrowing to hear the details.

"For someone to do something so savage to a small dog who couldn't possibly have protected herself is disgusting. She would have suffered terrible pain and fear."

Watson was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a dog by subjecting it to physical violence and causing unnecessary suffering by failing to call a vet and not feeding the animal properly.

Coco, who has been renamed Maggie, is recovering well and is now "playful and affectionate", the RSPCA said.