Jimmy the collie cross puppy is improving by leaps and bounds three weeks after being found close to death on a Gisborne beach, a victim of animal abuse.
The society released its list of its most shocking cases of animal abuse in the past year, saying this year's list is one of the most violent it has seen.
As for Jimmy, he's super social and very well mannered, SPCA inspector Cassandra Kathryn Norris told 1 NEWS.
"He's definitely coming into his own now," she said.
He had wounds to his face, "his eye was protruding out of his head, and it looked like he had been hit on the head with something."
Despite an investigation, Jimmy's abuser still hasn't been found.
Jimmy will be ready for a loving home soon. But the same can't be said for many animals on the SPCA's 'List of Shame'.
Among them is a duck that had to be put down after its beak was blown off with fireworks, and Frosty the horse who was euthanised after stitches were left in his eye so long his head swelled up.
“They go through the same emotional pain and emotional distress that we might
"What we've seen in this year's list is a few examples of extreme neglect that your viewers will look at and go, 'that's just unacceptable.' And that's our view as well," said Greg Reid, SPCA chief inspector.
Those extreme cases include five-year-old dog Tasha who starved to death. Her owner was disqualified from having animals for 10 years and fined $2000.
The SPCA says courts need to enforce harsher penalties.
"Offending against the Animal Welfare Act does provide for imprisonment. And I'm trying to think of the last case that we actually had imprisonment at sentence. We do have some very significant serial offenders that really need to be spending time behind bars, quite frankly," Mr Reid said.
The SPCA is also pushing for counselling and supervision to break the habit of animal abuse, as well as educating people about the similarities we share with our furry friends.
"If you look at an MRI of a brain of a dog and the MRI of a child, you'll see the same areas lighting up with pleasure, with love, with fear. They go through the same emotional pain and emotional distress that we might," said Jess Beer, a veterinary behaviourist.
And while Jimmy is now feeling the love form his carers, it's hoped other animals can avoid the pain he went through.
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