Dean McKay – Edinburgh

A violent thug who battered a pet dog to death with a metal pole has been jailed for more than two years and banned from owning animals for the rest of his life.

Dean McKay of capital’s Calders launched the savage attack on the German Shepherd named Goldie after chasing the animal’s owner Kyle Pugh into an Edinburgh supermarket in May 2024.

McKay, 38, kicked the dog to the body before killing the animal by smashing it over the head with the metal pole resulting in the pet suffering a broken neck.

McKay and accomplice Daniel Devlin then fled before police officers – including an armed response team – raced to the scene and sealed off the area surrounding the supermarket.

Devlin, 39, was traced and arrested soon after while McKay handed himself in to a local police station four days later.

The pair pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by approaching Kyle Pugh while in possession of a hammer and a knife at Calder Park in Edinburgh when they appeared at the city’s sheriff court last month.

McKay admitted to a charge of causing an animal unnecessary suffering by kicking the dog on the body, striking her on the head with a metal pole causing her death during the incident on May 31, 2024.

Allegations of striking the dog with a knife and a claw hammer were deleted from the charge.

Prosecutor Rachel Hill told the court Mr Pugh was attending the Premier Store with his two Alsatians, Goldie and Buddy, at around 3.30pm on May 31, 2024.

Ms Hill said McKay was seen “shouting, swearing and making threats” towards the man while Devlin aggressively confronted him while “carrying a plastic knife and claw hammer”.

The court heard Mr Pugh managed to take refuge inside the store and “both accused have left for a short time before returning” to the area.

The fiscal said: “When the accused McKay returned he was in possession of a metal pole and kicked the dog Goldie before swinging the metal pole down, striking the dog Goldie to the head, causing her death.”

The court heard shocked shopkeepers who witnessed the attack had “activated the panic alarm to alert the police” and McKay and Devlin fled the scene.

Police officers including armed response and a dog unit descended on the estate and sealed off the supermarket and a vet from a local practice was requested to attend.

Ms Hill said: “The [vet] has inspected Goldie and found no puncture wound to the body although there was instability to the neck vertebrae suggesting the blunt force trauma during the incident resulted in a broken neck.”

During a police interview Mackay told officers: “He set his dug (sic) on me, he said to the dug ‘get um’.

“So aye I admit I got the pole and hit the dog.”

McKay was jailed for 27 months and sentenced to a lifetime ban on keeping or owning animals.