Police forced to smash their way into Baptist minister’s car to save his Eskimo dog named Wolf after leaving him in ‘overwhelming heat’ while he had brunch with a colleague
- Rev Stephen Holland, 56, left Alaskan Malamute in locked car for over an hour
- Wolf was ‘panting’ when rescued by police officers in Macclesfield, Cheshire
Police were forced to smash their way into the car of a Baptist minister who left his dog in ‘overwhelming’ 25C (78F) heat for over an hour while he had brunch with a colleague.
Officers broke through the front window of Reverend Stephen Holland’s car to rescue his ‘panting’ and ‘very subdued’ pet Alaskan Malamute named Wolf.
The Eskimo pooch was ‘hot to the touch’ and no water was found in the boot, a court heard. He was rushed to a vets to be checked over, where he was found to be unharmed.
Christian preacher Rev Holland, 56, had parked his motor in Macclesfield, Cheshire, in June where he was meeting a church colleague at a café.
A ticket on his windscreen showed he arrived at 11.55am, but it was not until 1.10pm – more than an hour and 15 minutes later – that officers were called by a member of the public to rescue Wolf.
Reverend Stephen Holland, 56, with his Alaskan Malamute, Wolf, who he left locked in his car while he went for breakfast in Macclesfield, Cheshire
The Eskimo pooch was ‘hot to the touch’ and no water was found in the boot after police officers smashed their way into the car. He was taken to the vet to be checked over
Rev Holland insisted his pet pooch was ‘completely fine’ and he believed it ‘was not excessively hot’ on the day, he told Crewe Magistrates’ Court.
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He picked up his mutt an hour after it was taken to the vets, the court heard. When quizzed by officers, Rev Holland – who runs an independent evangelical church in Westhoughton, near Bolton, Greater Manchester – insisted he had left water for the dog and the windows open on his vehicle.
The pastor initially pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty but after being informed of the £800 costs he would face if convicted after a trial, he changed his plea to guilty.
Rev Holland, of Oswaldwistle, Lancashire was fined £200 with £200 in costs after he admitted causing unnecessary suffering by ‘abandoning a dog in a hot car’. He was spared a ban on keeping animals.
Prosecuting, Lisa McGuire, said the dog was ‘panting excessively’ when he was rescued.
‘Had the police not attended the dog would have been left in the car for over two hours,’ she said.
‘At the time of the incident, the air temperature recorded on the dashboard of the attending police officer’s vehicle was 26 degrees Celsius (78.8F).’
Representing himself, Rev Holland told magistrates he had kept dogs for more than 30 years, and loved them ‘as if they were his own children’.
He argued he had parked in a shaded area under a tree under ‘a lot of tall trees’ and the white paint on his car would had reflected the heat.
Rev Holland insisted his pet pooch was ‘completely fine’ and he believed it ‘was not excessively hot’ on the day
Rev Holland told magistrates he had kept dogs for more than 30 years, and loved them ‘as if they were his own children’
He picked up his mutt an hour after it was taken to the vets. When quizzed by officers, Rev Holland insisted he had left water for the dog and the windows open on his vehicle
When he returned to his car and found the window shattered and Wolf gone he went into a ‘panic’, he told the court.
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‘I was concerned for the welfare of the dog,’ he said ‘I explained that to the police officer then I went to the vet to see the state of the dog.
‘My first question was, “Is he okay?”, but the vet just shrugged his shoulders and said, “Yes, he is perfectly fine”.’
Rev Holland said that the dog was lively and jumping around and when he took it for a walk it was pulling powerfully on the lead.
‘My dog was perfectly fine,’ he said, ‘There was no ill health to my dog at all.’
Sentencing, JP Susan Taylor told him she disagreed with his statement about hte temperature and warned him he could be banned from having an animal if he is brought to the courts again.
She said: ‘We have heard you say that you look after your animals like your own children but may we suggest that you would not lock your child in a car for two hours.
Rev Holland runs an independent evangelical church in Westhoughton, near Bolton, Greater Manchester
‘Even if you thought you were not going to be that long, you might have gone back to check on the dog, which you did not. If you are going to leave the dog for that length of time I am sure the dog would be safer at home and I am sure that you have now come to the same conclusion.’
Holland who was who became a minister in 2003 trained for the Christian ministry at the Faith Mission Bible College, and the London Reformed Baptist Seminary. He is not part of the Church of England and has campaigned against the ordination of women priests.
He is the North of England ‘Wycliffe Preacher’ for the Protestant Truth Society named after theologian John Wycliffe is widely considered one of the medieval forerunners of the Protestant Reformation.
Recently when asked on Facebook whether Wolf could cope with a warm climate he said: ‘He’s not too bad in hot weather. He has a squeeze bottle so I spray him with that.’
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