Seventy two year old convicted at Tipperary court of being in charge of German Shepherd dogs who attacked car trying to get at cat hidden underneath vehicle

Three German Shepherd dogs devoured an Audi car causing over €6,700 worth of damage in their attempts to get at a cat hiding underneath the vehicle, Tipperary district court heard.
The Audi was parked in a garage just outside Bansha and dogs who lived next door caused extensive damage to the car.
Garage owner Bill Daly told Judge Elizabbeth McGrath at Tipperary district court that he could hear the dogs barking during the night and when he got up the next morning he discovered the damage to one of his cars parked in the garage.
The court was told that CCTV footage showed the attack on the car by the three dogs who were after a cat taking shelter under the vehicle.The cat managed to escape while the dogs were put down by their owner on his return from a trip to Australia.
Extensive damage was caused to the bonnet of the car, the headlights, the grill, the mudflaps, the court was told that the dogs ate pieces out of the car.
Before the court was John Joe Walsh, Cloone Bansha who pleaded not guilty to a number of charges under the Control of Dogs Act relating to February 4th 2017.
He was convicted and fined a total of €300 after being found guilty on charges of being the person in charge of the dogs.Judge McGrath dismissed further charges against John Joe Walsh after finding that there was no evidence to prove he was the owner of the dogs.
Garage owner Bill Daly said he came out of his house to go to work at the garage and saw three dogs and noticed one of the parked cars had been badly damaged.He hunted the dogs away and he understood the dogs belonged to his next door neighbour John Joe Walsh.Two weeks later John Joe Walsh told him that the dogs belonged to his son Stephen who would sort him out when he came home from Australia.Seven or eight months passed and nobody had sorted him out.He had heard the dogs barking during the night and only discovered the damage the next morning.
Bill Daly said he had often seen the dogs in the yard of John Joe Walsh and they were also to be seen out on his lawn.John Joe Walsh told him that his son would pay for the damage and he took his word on it.
Gda Anthony Owens said he observed CCTV footage which showed the three dogs trying to get at a cat underneath the car.The cat could be seen on the footage running away.He spoke to John Walsh who said the dogs belonged to his son who was in Australia.He was aware Mr.Walsh and the dogs lived on the same property beside Mr.Daly's property.
Gda John Hennessy said he spoke to Mr.Walsh who told him the dogs were German Shepherds.As he spoke to Mr.Walsh the dogs were with him on the property.
John Joe Walsh told the court that the dogs belonged to his son Stephen .The dogs were on the property where he lived but he had very little to do with the dogs.
"They were not my dogs,his brothers and sisters looked after the dogs" said John Joe Walsh.
In response to questions from Inspector Padraig Powell John Joe Walsh  said he did not give the dogs water or did not feed the dogs " I could barely feed myself" he told Judge McGrath.
Mr.Flynn,Solicitor said the dogs were put down by Stephen Walsh on his return from Australia.He said there was no evidence John Walsh was the owner or was in control of the dogs.
Inspector Powell said Mr.Walsh was in control of the household and was responsible for it.The dogs were being cared for on the property and had been on the property for years.
"It was very convenient for Mr.Walsh to say he never fed or watered the dogs" said Inspector Powell.

Judge McGrath said she would dismiss the ownership charges against John Walsh because the owner was his son.It was not in dispute that the dogs were responsible for the damage to the car.Mr.Daly was a next door neighbour and the dogs came from the property where Mr.Walsh resided.Evidence was given that Mr.Walsh spoke to Mr.Daly and told him that his son Stephen was the owner of the dogs and that when he came back from abroad he would fix him up.Mr.Walsh made that representation to Mr.Daly and in her view that was evidence of being a person in charge.She was not impressed with the evidence given by Mr.Walsh in relation to his involvement with the dogs and did not accept his evidence in that regard.When Gda Hennessy called the same dogs were with Mr.Walsh.She was satisfied that Mr.Walsh was the person in charge of the dogs at the time.
Mr.Flynn,solicitor said his client was a seventy two year old man with no previous convictions.Mr.Walsh was on invalidity payment and he had significant health issues..