NEIGHBOURS of the Trowbridge couple who hanged their pet dog believe justice has not been done, after they were both given suspended jail sentences at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court on Monday. 

Veronica Reid, 42, of Woolpack Meadows, Trowbridge, and boyfriend Jon Allen, 27, also of Woolpack Meadows, previously admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the collie named Shandy, along with friend Paul Brown, 52, of Okehampton Road, Exeter. 

Although Brown failed to turn up on Monday, Reid was given an 18-week suspended jail sentence and a six-month curfew, while Allen received a 23-week suspended sentence and 300 hours unpaid work. 

They were both banned from keeping animals for ten years.

Neighbour Katherine James, who called the RSPCA to say Reid told her they had hanged the dog, said: “I’m shocked about the decision. No justice has been done for the dog. I’m disgusted by what they did and there is no doubt in my mind that they should have got a custodial sentence.” 

The court heard Miss James told the RSPCA about a conversation she had with Reid, where she made a “hanging gesture” after telling her the dog was gone. 

Miss James added: “She was sat waiting for a bus one day and we started having a chat. I asked her what had happened to the dog, as it used to bark constantly. 

“She then told me it was gone. I asked her what she meant, thinking she had taken it to a dog’s home or something, and then she made a hanging gesture. She also told me that the squealing noise it made sounded like when you boil a lobster.” 

Magistrates were told how Allen and Brown had inquired about having the dog put down, but after being told it would cost more than £100 they decided, with Reid’s agreement, to hang the dog. 

They hoisted it up with a rope from the attic, with the dog taking between five to 10 minutes to die in that position, before Brown punched to make sure it was dead. 

Jade O’Rourke, who lives opposite Reid, said: “We are angry that they have only been given suspended sentences and we don’t want them in the community.”

Sharon Barby, of Woolpack Meadows, said: “I was disgusted with what they have got and that sentence is not much of a deterrent.”