'Runaway' dog was dead and buried

A KENNEL owner tried to cover up the violent death of a dog in her care and told the owners it had run away. Border collie Arte was killed when two Staffordshire bull terrier cross-breeds got into its pen at 24/7 Petcare, owned by Jessica Valpied.

Two days later, she phoned owners the Van den Bossche family, who were on holiday, and told them Arte had escaped. Friends put up posters, made appeals on the radio and placed an advert in the Guernsey Press in an effort to find the animal.

Before burying the dog in a nearby field, Valpied, of La Vallette, Rue des Longs Camps, St Saviour's, had told staff that the truth would be bad for business and that they were to tell no one of the incident. She contacted the GSPCA and asked her employees to pretend to look for Arte by calling his name.

The truth came to light when two of them, distressed by the incident, told their parents what had happened and they in turn informed the police.

In the Magistrate's Court yesterday, Valpied, 24, pleaded guilty to stealing the carcass of a dog and was fined £400.