Man near Lutterworth got ‘sadistic kick’ out of throwing a live rabbit to his dogs, says judge

The RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit launched an investigation.

A man from a village near Lutterworth has been banned from keeping animals after throwing a live rabbit to his dogs, and filming it.

Lewis Palmer, aged 24, of Wibtoft, appeared at Coventry Magistrates’ Court last week where he plead guilty to one offence, under the Animal Welfare Act, of causing unnecessary suffering to a rabbit by giving the rabbit to two dogs.

He received a suspended prison sentence and was disqualified from keeping animals for six years.

The RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit launched an investigation after Naturewatch Foundation passed on some intelligence it had on illegal hunting and wildlife persecution which officers looked into.

A warrant was conducted by Leicestershire Police in December and two Patterdale terriers - Rusty and Gem - were found at Palmer’s address.

Palmer surrendered his phone and gave officers his password, and a video was recovered showing him throwing a live domestic rabbit to his two dogs.

In his witness statement, the officer who led the investigation - who isn’t being named for operational reasons - said: “[The] 38 second video is of a live rabbit being dropped into a dog run containing two terriers. The two terriers are the ones I saw at [Palmer’s address].

“Encouragement to the dog Gem can be heard being given, and general encouragement to both dogs can be heard.

“The run containing the terriers is the one that I saw them in on December 1 2023. This video was created on [the phone] on 2 November 2023.”

In interview, Palmer claimed the rabbit was wild and was suffering from myxomatosis – a virus affecting rabbits – and he was trying to end its suffering.

In mitigation, the court was told Palmer was sorry for what he’d done and regretted his actions but Judge Potter said it was a barbaric act that he got a ‘sadistic kick out of’.

Palmer was sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for two years, with 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 175 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £800 in costs, a £100 victim surcharge and disqualified him from owning all animals for six years.