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A puppy was left in so much pain he had to be put down after having his legs snapped in a brutal attack by his owner.

Stefan McCormick pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to his four-month-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier in an attack so bad the dog “screamed” when a vet attempted to examine him.

Expert opinions of the injuries - which McCormick initially claimed were caused in a road collision - suggested the puppy was swung by its front legs into a solid object.

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The RSPCA was called to McCormick’s home in Devonshire Road, Birkenhead on December 30, 2013, after receiving a report pet dog Ty had been injured in a road traffic collision.

On arrival the inspector found Ty lying on the couch on his side and, after checking him over, suspected the injuries were not caused in a road accident as the 23-year-old initially claimed.

Detailing the state of Ty when he was taken to a veterinary surgeon on the same day, Chris Murphy, prosecuting, told Wirral magistrates’ court: “When the vet moved it, it [Ty] screamed. She placed the animal on the table and it knuckled over on both its forelimbs and knocked its head on the table.”

The dog was in so much pain the vet could not continue the examination, but she later concluded Ty was suffering so much he needed to be put down. She said the injuries suggested the dog’s legs “might have been pulled apart with a great deal of force”.

When an expert was called in to further assess the puppy, he said Ty had suffered “severe blunt force trauma” to his front legs - adding the injuries were consistent with “the dog being picked up by the front legs and swung against a solid object”.

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Sarah Ferguson, defending, said her client was “not a well man” and asked for a psychiatric report to be compiled before McCormick’s sentencing.

Chairman of the bench, Keith Bate, ordered pre-sentence reports to be compiled and adjourned sentencing until October 6.

He told McCormick: “All sentencing options, including custody, remain open.”

After the hearing RSPCA Inspector Anthony Joynes described himself as “relieved” McCormick had pleaded guilty, saying the injuries Ty had sustained were “appalling”.

He said: “This has been a long drawn out investigation, probably one of the most brutal and violent I have ever dealt with as well as my colleagues and the police and the vets involved have all been upset by this case... I’m just hoping now that we can get some closure on the case in a few weeks’ time and hopefully the magistrates do the right thing and sentence Mr McCormick accordingly.”