East Lothian news: Care worker, David Aird, suspended for six months after killing dog

A care worker has been suspended by the Scottish Social Services Council after being found guilty in court of killing a pet dog.

East Lothian man David Aird worked as support worker for adults in a care home in Dunbar.

He was fined £420 and banned from keeping a pet for 20 years at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court on August 18 last year.

Now, the Scottish Social Services Council have issued a Suspension Order on registration for a period of six months.

Aird hit the chihuahua on the head, leading to the dog suffering a fatal haemorrhage. A postmortem confirmed that the dog died from blunt force trauma, and could possibly have suffered great pain before falling unconscious.

The SSSC report confirmed that Aird’s fitness to practise was impaired because “Social Service Workers must not behave, while in or outside work, in a way which would bring their suitability to work in social services into question.

"You struck your pet dog on the head with your hand, resulting in your dog’s death.

“You have failed to uphold the law and your behaviour demonstrates a loss of self-control and disregard for the safety of the animal in your care.”

East Lothian news: Care worker, David Aird, suspended for six months after killing dog

It went on to add: “committing such a crime of violence raises concerns over your values as it is attitudinal in nature, which can make such behaviour harder to remediate.

"Behaviour of this manner is contrary to the values expected of registered social service workers.”

The report clarified that there was no evidence that Aird had “acted violently towards any person” encountered in his employment.

They concluded that he had “shown insight and reflected on your behaviour.”