A mum's ex-partner brutally killed her tiny chihuahua before throwing the animal out of a first-floor window in a sickening attack, a court has heard.
Donald Gollan, 35, was caught on a neighbour's CCTV hurling 12-year-old chihuahua Archie from the first floor of his girlfriend's home in March 2022. Archie's owner and mum-of-four Laura Park arrived at her home to find it looking like a “crime scene” with blood everywhere and her beloved pet missing.
Laura's kind-hearted neighbour offered to help her look for the animal, before discovering harrowing footage on her CCTV showing Gollan, who appears to be intoxicated, throwing Archie's body from the upstairs window before landing on the concrete below. At the time of the incident in March 2022, Gollan, who worked as a roofer for West Dunbartonshire Council, was captured on CCTV throwing Archie from an upstairs window onto concrete slabs below. Gollan then appears at the back door on the ground floor.
Laura Park described her home as a 'crime scene'
Donald Gollan will be sentenced on May 22He scans the area before stooping to pick up Archie and stuff him behind a mattress leaning against the garden fence. Gollan stood trial and was found guilty at Dumbarton Sheriff Court of causing an animal's death by engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour that induced fear and alarm, acting aggressively, shouting, swearing, and smashing a lamp.
Speaking to the DailyRecord about the traumatic experience, Laura explained that she had to move house as constant reminders of the cruel act were triggering her PTSD. She said: "Going out to put my bins out - that's where Archie hit the fence before falling on the path. Driving on my driveway - where Archie first landed when he was put out the window. The house was a trigger for my PTSD. I had to move to be able to live a normal life."
Dog who 'always melts hearts' with his smile hopes to find a loving family
The mum-of-four added: "Everything was a trigger. "I got the keys to my new home the week before he was found guilty. These things happen for a reason and it feels like I'm finally being allowed to move on. Obviously, nothing can bring Archie back. No matter what sentence he is hit with, it won't make up for the pain and suffering that he's caused over the last two years. But at least we have a guilty verdict.
Gut-wrenching CCTV footage captured the moment Gollan threw chihuahua Archie out of the first floor window of the property"That is the main thing. He has been denying this story for a long time and making me out to be a liar. To get that guilty verdict and get justice for Archie is all that matters. To know that a judge at a court believed us and knew it was true was a massive relief."
Now, Laura has revealed the horrific ordeal has transformed her and her life. She said: "I say to people that there is a Laura before and a Laura after what happened. I'm not the same. The Laura after is a totally different person. I'm full of anxiety. I don't like to go into Dumbarton or Alexandria in case I see him or his family. I was a really confident, strong and independent woman. I'm a shell now.
"I don't trust anyone. Nobody will come into my life again. I won't trust them. How could I? The night it happened I just kept saying to the police that I didn't know how he could've done something like this. He was a man I was meant to love. I kept telling the police that it couldn't be him, but they said that it was him. It was just a side he hadn't shown."
The distraught mum is now calling for tougher penalties for those who abuse animals, adding: "That man will only face up to a year in prison. But I don't think he will get a custodial sentence. Even if it had been a petition case then the maximum sentence he would've got would be five years. To anyone out there that isn't enough."
"He didn't accidentally fall on top of Archie. He viciously tortured and killed him. There's something seriously wrong with that. And there needs to be more done on that. There are studies out there that show that Chihuahuas have the intelligence of a three-year-old child. How can anyone tell me that their life isn't worth the same as any human?". Gollan is due to be sentenced on May 22 at Dumbarton Sheriff Court.
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