Farmer kept sheepdog inside abandoned 'filthy' horsebox without food or water

A farmer who confined a sheepdog for months inside a filthy abandoned horsebox has been banned from keeping a dog for 15 years.

A sheriff described Robert Baird’s treatment of his Border Collie, Drift, as “a disturbing case of severe animal neglect”.

Baird, 62, admitted causing the dog unnecessary suffering and failing to meet its needs over a period of nearly five months from September 1, 2023, to January this year.

Drift’s plight was discovered when animal welfare staff from Falkirk Council visited Easter Whin Farm near Slamannan, Stirlingshire, on January 24.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard on Thursday that they didn’t get an answer when they knocked on the door of the farmhouse, so they approached adjacent sheds but didn’t see anybody in there either.

They made to leave, but as they walked past an abandoned horsebox, they heard a noise.

They realised it was being made by a dog apparently locked inside, agitated and whining.

Animal welfare inspector Fiona Johnston, concerned it might be distress, opened the side door.

Inside, she found Drift, his fur heavily matted, with matter on his underside and neck, extending to his flanks.

A fencing panel had confined him to a floorspace of only six square metres, covered by a thick layer of droppings even extending up the walls.

There was evidence Drift had tried to scrape clear a small area at the rear of the trailer to create a dry area to lie down, but the wooden floor was so wet and rotten that a section broke when Ms Johnston placed her weight on it.

There was a strong smell of urine and faeces, and a single small plastic window was not admitting any natural light and was too high up to allow Drift to see out for visual stimulus.

The uninsulated aluminium side panelling would not have provided Drift any protection from the winter cold.

He had no access to food or water, so Ms Johnston filled a bowl from a standpipe and gave him some chunks of tinned dog meat.

The court was told that Drift immediately ate and drank with “an urgency that suggested he was very hungry and thirsty”.

A vet was called and he was taken to a place of safety.

He was given a body condition score of only three out of nine.

Veterinary staff trimmed his matted fur and gave him antibiotics, and despite behavioural problems caused by his ordeal, he was later successfully re-homed.

Baird was interviewed and admitted that Drift was his, the horsebox hadn’t been cleaned out for weeks, and he had been locked in for weeks, was not walked, and when he was allowed out he was simply left on a rope attached to the horsebox.

Solicitor Gordon Addison, defending, said Baird had been “overwhelmed” by the pressures of caring for his wife, who was being treated for cancer in Glasgow, and for his wife’s elderly mother, who lived some distance away.

Mr Addison said: “He should have sought help, but not atypical for his generation, pride got in the way of common sense.”

Imposing the 15-year dog ban and placing Baird under social work supervision for two years, Sheriff Maryam Labaki told Baird: “Notwithstading the mitigation that’s been put forward that you were caring for your wife with cancer, you caused significant suffering and stress to your collie Drift, who for the duration of the period of the libel [the charges] was confined in a filthy trailer, covered in his own mess.

“This is a quite disturbing case of severe animal neglect.”