Not So Smart, Clearly...

A former professional footballer has avoided jail but had his ‘beloved’ dog taken away from him after he was filmed beating it in the street. Jason Smart, 48, was hauled before the courts for slapping his four-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier, Frank, twice in Castleton, Rochdale.

How did I know it'd be a Staffie..?

CCTV footage filmed by shop owner Paula O’Connor showed him ‘punishing’ the animal after it ran out into the road.

A court heard that Smart, a former Rochdale and Crewe Alexander defender, had previously suffered serious injuries running into the road to protect his pet.

And speaking on his behalf, Smart’s lawyer begged magistrates not to confiscate Frank who was ‘the most important being in his life’.

Clearly not important enough to put it on a lead...

However they rejected the plea and banned him from keeping any animal for a period of seven months, as well as ordering him to do 150 hours’ unpaid work. Frank will now be re-homed.

Smart, a former Rochdale footballer, stormed out of the courtroom at Manchester Magistrates’ court on Thursday after learning the decision, which he branded a ‘joke’.

What a strange reaction. Still, the stress of a court appearance can make people act completely out of character so...

Oh. Wait.

Ms O’Connor, spotted the dog outside her pet shop on Manchester Road in Castleton, Rochdale, in October last year, and initially thought it was a stray as there was no one with it, RSPCA prosecutors said.

However she then heard a man shouting and Smart, who lives on Manchester Road, emerged and hit him twice.

She told him: “Don’t hit the dog like that.”

Smart replied: “Shut up you stupid f***, it’s my dog, I can do what I want.”

Yup, just another waste of oxygen. At least the dog's now better off.