Man who stabbed friend's dog during alcohol fuelled evening claimed owner asked him to euthanise it

A Canterbury man has been sentenced to supervision and community work after stabbing his friend’s elderly dog with a filleting knife.

In May last year Raymond Kilgour pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court to one charge of ill-treating an animal.

Today he was sentenced to ten months’ supervision, 140 hours’ community work and is disqualified from owning a dog for five years.

In a statment the SPCA says on July 13, 2017, Mr Kilgour and his friend were drinking alcohol at his friend’s house. His friend owns a Jack Russell dog called Skipper whom the pair had been joking about euthanising due to his age and health.

"At approximately 11:50pm, Skipper’s owner heard him yelp and found Mr Kilgour bent over Skipper holding a filleting knife," the statement reads.

Skipper had been stabbed in the right side of the neck and shoulder region and blood was pooling on the floor.

Mr Kilgour left and Skipper was immediately taken to an after-hours vet.

They found there was a single large linear wound extending down from Skipper’s neck down through the muscles of his shoulder and reaching to cranial ribs.

Skipper was required to undergo surgery to repair the wound and has made a full recovery.

In a victim impact statement Skipper’s owner said that he still has clear images of the sight of Skipper with blood spurting from his neck. He recalled the noises and the yelping. He went on to say that Skipper is now very wary around other dogs, and does not socialise like he used to.

SPCA CEO Andrea Midgen described the incident as a "mindless act of violence against an innocent animal".

"It is disgusting that someone would commit such a heinous attack on a friend’s much-loved pet. We sincerely hope this sentence allows Mr Kilgour to acknowledge the pain he has caused, and provides a sense of justice for Skipper and his owner.”

The statement went on to say: "In explanation Mr Kilgour said his friend had asked him to euthanise Skipper. He said he did not want to but after some persuasion he attempted it by stabbing him, and felt really bad afterwards.

"Skipper’s owner disputes this, and said that they were laughing and joking, and at no point did he seriously request that Mr Kilgour stab his dog."