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Couple banned from owning animals

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rocky

Poor Rocky: He was unable to see before due to matted fur.

A HAVERFORDWEST couple appeared in front of the town’s magistrates on Tuesday (Feb 11) to face charges of animal cruelty against their own dog. Jason Arnold and Kerry Ann Webber both of Freeman’s View were over an hour late arriving at court but finally attended face the charges against them.

Jason Arnold pleaded guilty to the three charges of animal cruelty. The court heard that Arnold had not taken the right steps to look after his long-haired mongrel, Rocky. According to the RSPCA who were prosecuting the case, he had not provided a safe environment, he did not ensure the need of a suitable diet and he failed to protect his dog from pain, injury or disease. Kerry Ann Webber pleaded guilty to the one charge placed against her; she failed to protect the dog from pain, injury or disease.

The prosecutor John Tarrant summarised the charges against the two defendants. He commented that Kerry’s involvement with the dog was far less than Jason’s, but Rocky was a household dog. Before going into detail about the charges, Tarrant handed Magistrates the original copies of photographs of Rocky at the time he was taken into RSPCA custody.

Tarrant reported that the couple’s home environment was messy and that Rocky was kept in a two foot by two foot cage – he had no room to move. When the RSPCA entered their house, they noticed that the two dog bowls were empty and that Rocky was extremely matted. He talked about the fact that Jason had said in a previous interview that their family social worker was going to take the dog to a vet or groomer.

The RSPCA visited the couple’s home on July 14, 2014, after an anonymous call was made in regards to Rocky’s welfare. Arnold refused when an RSPCA officer asked for the dog to be signed over to them.

When Rocky was taken to the vets, he weighed 7.05 kg and was given a condition score of one out of five. Rocky could not see because huge matts covered his eyes and he could not defecate because his anal area was completely matted. The prosecutor described the pain that Rocky would have been in by asking the court to imagine their hair being pulled and twisted constantly for six weeks. Rocky had to be sedated twice over four days in order to remove all of the matting. When his matts were removed, he weighed only 6 kilos. The vet said that there was no way to know the true weight of Rocky when he came in four days earlier, but it definitely would have been less than 6 kg. In a follow up examamination on the October 8 2014, Rocky weighed an average weight for his size.

Arnold had said in a previous interview that they had owned Rocky for a few months, but he had not noticed the matting. Kerry had said that she knew that it was unacceptable but that she should not be blamed as much.

Tarrant added that Rocky was in the hands of the RSPCA still and that the boarding costs were exceeding £3,000.

The defence, Sara Lewis, asked for full credit for the pair’s guilty pleas. She went on to comment that Arnold said it was completely unintentional and that he had been feeding Rocky twice a day. He took responsibility for the fact that he may not have been feeding the dog an adequate amount of food and water. He accepted that Rocky’s coat was in a mess and that it must have been like that for a period of time.

Lewis went into further detail about the fact that the family’s social worker had been making arrangements for Rocky’s coat to be groomed. The couple do not drive and were trying to look for a mobile groomer. The two had been taking steps to resolve the problem and Anna, their social worker, had made an appointment for the week following the RSPCA’s visit. Anna helps the family with their middle child, who has learning difficulties. She attends the house to help with the children, but has never raised concerns about the state of the house. Lewis stated that this would have been something that Anna would have picked up on.

Lewis went on to say that the couple are not in the position to meet the level of costs required from them. There would be little chance of them fulfilling that debt and Lewis said that they would be set up to fail if they were ordered to pay the full amount. She went on to say that the dog meant a lot to the family and that it would be an excessive punishment to let the RSPCA keep him.

Magistrates asked why the pair were late earlier in the day and they said that they had been up overnight as their youngest daughter had earache and they had overslept. He then asked the two if they were aware that the court had been waiting around for over an hour.

The decision on the case was to be made after lunch.

When the case continued after 2pm, John Tarrant told the Magistrates that when leaving court, Webber had used abusive language against the RSPCA officer who was present. The RSPCA officer had said that Kerry has called him a p***k, a f***ing liar, a w****r and said that he was telling a pack of lies. She also followed him, pointing her finger at him aggressively. The RSPCA officer informed security.

The defence responded to Tarrant by saying that it was her first time hearing the exact allegation, so she requested that she could talk with Kerry. Magistrates agreed and Webber left with Lewis. They came back shortly after, with her crying.

Lewis said that the matter would be dealt with through an apology. She requested if she could apologise on behalf of Webber, but they wanted the apology to come from the defendant. She stood and said: “I’m sorry if I caused any offence. I know I never said it but I’m sorry anyway.” The RSPCA officer accepted this apology.

Magistrates finalised the case by stating that Rocky would not be able to go back to live with the defendants. The RSPCA will rehome him. The two were also disqualified from owning animals for ten years, and they will not be able to appeal for this time to be shortened. They were both given community orders, Jason will have to complete 90 hours of unpaid work, and Kerry 40. Their £3,155 fine was reduced to £500 each and they will also have to pay a victim surcharge of £60. They will pay £5 each per week. Magistrates asked for it to be ensured that the vet would have his fees of £906 paid first.

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Rugby Weekly – Tenby’s promotion push continues

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It’s crunch time for all rugby clubs around the county, whether promotion is their aim or fighting relegation or even just trying to improve their league position, it’s now or never. 

Last weekend saw an important win for Fishguard in division two west which should put any relegation fears to bed completely. James Griffiths added an impressive 18 points for the Seagulls as they defeated Nantgaredig 33-19. 

Elsewhere in the second division, Milford were beaten 32-8 by a good Lampeter outfit. The Mariners are still a little too close for comfort with the drop zone but should have enough quality to see them safe. 

At the other end of the table Tenby sit in second place and have played fewer games than leaders St Clears and third place Lampeter. They won impressively again last weekend, beating Pontyberem 64-19 at Haywood Lane. Fletcher Broadhurst impressed with two tries as did Hywel Baker who also grabbed himself a brace. Another excellent performance in an outstanding season so far in which promotion would be the absolute icing on the cake. 

In Division Three West, Pembroke were well beaten by Laugharne 74-15 in which the outstanding Liam Price and Nico Setaro both crossed the whitewash 4 teams a piece. The latter also added 7 successful conversions. 

There was a local derby at Pill Parks where Llangwm hosted Pembroke Dock Quins and it was an exciting clash. The visitors won narrowly 28-23, Craig Barnett and Gethin Bradney both scored two tries for the Quins. The Wasps battled hard and will be proud of their performance, Gethin Thomas impressed for the hosts with two tries of his own but it wasn’t enough to secure the points. 

St David’s hosted the high flying Cardigan outfit and were unable to score in reply to the visitors 20 points, with it ending 20-0. The Saints however won’t be losing too much sleep over it as they have had a great season so far. 

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Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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