Overview
- A neighbour filmed James Andrew Marchant wrestling a tiny terrier and throwing the dog over a six‑foot wooden garden gate, with the footage taken on September 5, 2025.
- Neighbours called the police and the footage was referred to the RSPCA, whose investigation found multiple animals living in poor conditions, including crates without bedding and a garden strewn with rubbish and faeces.
- At Bristol Magistrates' Court on June 24, 2026, Marchant pleaded guilty to two animal welfare offences and was disqualified from keeping animals for ten years while Clair Yvonne Malik admitted a welfare offence and was banned from keeping dogs for five years; both received fines, legal costs and victim surcharges.
- Veterinary evidence recorded Boomer with a body condition score of 2 out of 9 and visible sores, and RSPCA care restored the dog from about 2kg to 3.5kg within a month before the charity rehomed him.
- The RSPCA praised the neighbour for reporting the incident and said the case shows how public reporting and charity prosecutions can remove animals from harmful homes and secure veterinary care and rehoming.