A CALLOUS dog owner has escaped going to jail after making his pet's life a living hell of prolonged torment.

In the week that saw shocking new figures on animal cruelty in North Yorkshire, the city's magistrates heard how Dekker Ashton threw his terrified and crying Staffordshire terrier down a flight of stairs and boasted of his actions to visitors.

Phil Brown, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said Ashton revelled in giving the dog hours of torment that left it blind in one eye, broke a neck bone and damaged its ear, among other injuries which put it in an animal hospital for five days. It needed treatment under general anaesthetic.

Today, thanks to the RSPCA and an eyewitness, Rex the brindled Staffordshire terrier is enjoying a new life with a loving and affectionate owner. It has made a full recovery, apart from its eye.

Ashton, 34, of Horner Street, Clifton, pleaded guilty on the day of his trial to animal cruelty between March 19 and 23, 2004.

Senior magistrate Gillian Sanderson said: "You were in serious danger of going to custody for this offence. It was deliberate and premeditated cruelty. You caused serious injury and loss of sight in one eye to the dog. You have shown no remorse for the damage and the pain you caused this animal."

The magistrates put him on probation for three years and banned him from keeping dogs for ten years. He must also pay £400 towards the RSPCA's costs in bringing him to justice.

Inspector Gill Corder, of the RSPCA, said afterwards: "I am happy we were successful in getting the dog away from that environment and into a safe home."

Mr Brown said eyewitness Josephine Bollus was visiting a first-floor flat - which was not Ashton's address - when she saw Ashton suddenly grab the dog by the neck. Rex was shaking and whimpering.

He took the dog into the concrete stairwell, and she heard banging, crashing and the dog crying for a minute or so, before Ashton returned alone and said: "I have thrown the dog down the stairs."

She told the RSPCA that Ashton "seemed well content the dog was scared" and that he "enjoyed bullying this little dog".

The next day, having got the animal through a mutual friend, she took it to the RSPCA clinic.

For Ashton, Martin Hawes said the dog had bitten him. He had not made any attempt to have another pet after signing Rex over to the RSPCA and didn't want another dog. "He has accepted that given his circumstances, he is a gentleman who would be better off looking after himself with the aid of his partner, rather than try to look after anything else," the solicitor said.

He suffered from depression and lived on benefits.

Updated: 10:21 Friday, July 22, 2005