The Offender Database reported that an animal abuser from Padiham, Alexandra Jade Gregson, has been sentenced to imprisonment for instigating her dogs to assault and murder an elderly cat in her backyard.
Alexandra Jade Gregson (35), of Alma Street, was sentenced at Burnley Crown Court on August 14th and 15th following a prosecution by the RSPCA.
The charity’s frontline staff conducted an investigation following the posting of a video on Snapchat of two canines assaulting a black and white cat in a garden.
The disfigured corpse of the cat, named Poppy, was subsequently discovered in a bin near the location. In the footage, Alexandra Jade Gregson is heard constantly yelling at his dogs: “You p*ssy’s, get it, Zola, kill that small cat.”!
The neighbour’s cat is observed being pursued by the dogs, and at one moment, the cat appears to freeze in terror as one of the dogs lunges.
A veterinary report summarising the footage stated: “The dogs do not seem inclined to attack the cat, but they do so following the owner’s repeated commands.”
The Padiham beast neither intervenes to halt the assault on the cat nor refrains from actively promoting it. In the final 20 seconds of the film, when she utters ‘leave it’ and ‘come,’ she makes no actual effort to assist the cat.
Alexandra Jade Gregson chuckles during the assault, thereby seeming to find it amusing, arousing and entertaining.
Inspector Miranda Albinson, who conducted the investigation for the RSPCA, stated: “This video is profoundly distressing to observe, and it is apparent from the outset that Alexandra Jade Gregson is instigating and provoking these dogs to assault the cat.” This continues for over a minute, with Alexandra Jade Gregson’s demands to ‘get it’ growing increasingly loud and harsh, while the dogs correspondingly exhibit heightened aggression against Poppy.
This must have been a harrowing experience for Poppy, resulting in significant anguish from being assaulted and killed in such a manner.
In May of the previous year, RSPCA Inspector Laura Baker visited the residence on Alma Street after reviewing footage of the assault, where she observed a black and white crossbreed dog with the same markings as the canine featured in the Snapchat video, confined within a training cage.
She examined the garden and concluded that, in her view, it was unmistakably the same garden depicted in the film.
Poppy was a 15-year-old black-and-white feline owned by a neighbouring resident. She was reported to have arthritis, which limited her mobility away from her house.
The owner reported that his sister had seen a Facebook post indicating that Poppy may have been assaulted by dogs. The owner’s sister discovered the body of their cherished cat in a bin at the back of Alexandra Jade Gregson’s home during the hunt.
A post-mortem examination revealed a ruptured liver, intra-abdominal haemorrhage, and bleeding lesions on the left kidney and stomach, indicative of blunt force trauma.
The report concluded: “My veterinary assessment indicates that Poppy succumbed to injuries inflicted by the dog bites during this incident.”
The cat in the video endured pain and misery due to the dog bites sustained during the attack that led to her demise.
“Poppy was known to have arthritis, with her owner noting that her mobility was reduced. The woman in the video comments that Poppy is an older cat.
“The fact that Poppy had arthritis is likely to have reduced her ability to escape from the yard area, which had surrounding walls, and flee from the dangerous threat of the dogs. The inability to escape a dangerous situation will have caused Poppy to suffer due to fear and distress.
The negative emotions Poppy will have experienced during the attack will likely have included anxiety, fear, panic, and a feeling of helplessness.
“It is my opinion that Poppy was caused to suffer unnecessarily due to pain and distress from the bite wounds and blunt trauma resulting in fatal tissue damage to the abdominal organs. This suffering could have been entirely prevented by the owner of the dogs not inciting her dogs to attack, removing her dogs, or removing the cat Poppy from the yard area. And Poppy’s suffering could have been reduced by the owner intervening when the attack started.”
In mitigation, the court heard that Alexandra Jade Gregson has been in custody for 12 weeks, due to other offences, and has been making efforts to engage with the prison regime.
Alexandra Jade Gregson was sentenced to 10 months’ immediate custody for the animal welfare offence and a total of 22 months for all offences.
Alexandra Jade Gregson was banned from keeping animals for life, and a confiscation order was issued for any animals she currently owns. She was also ordered to pay the costs of £9,906.74.
In sentencing remarks, Her Honour Judge Sara Dodd said: “It is perhaps hard to put into words how sadistic and persistent that episode was. Your dogs took a significant amount of encouragement before they began, let alone continued their attack on Poppy. They had absolutely no interest in that cat before you goaded them into attacking her.”
Alexandra Jade Gregson is charged with Contrary to section 4 subsection 1 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
In 2021, she was jailed for 13 months after she bit a woman’s ear off. Alexandra Jade Gregson hit the woman with a bottle, grabbed her by the hair, kicked her, punched her and bit her thigh and ear.
When the police arrived, they found the woman on the floor, covered in blood. She had cuts to her face, ear, arms and elbows, and two black eyes.
It is recommended that Alexandra Jade Gregson not be allowed sole access to animals or children.
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