A Tauranga man who beat his dog with a shovel has been jailed for four months.
The man was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the September 2024 incident.
His arrest followed a witness hearing a dog yelp at the man's address.
Investigating the noise, they spotted the man striking his dog, named Marama, on her body and head using a "large" shovel. He then threw the shovel at the dog, striking her head.
"Marama tried retreating while yelping and whimpering, before running into a corner of the yard," the SPCA said.
When he was confronted, the man said he was beating the dog because she had toileted on his deck.
When police and SPCA investigators arrived, he refused to cooperate and wouldn't answer questions while he tried to downplay the beating.
He threw a small plastic dustpan and brush onto the ground, claiming they were what he had used to hit Marama.
The dog was removed from the property and taken to a vet.
"Upon examination, Marama avoided placing full weight on her right hind limb and flinched repeatedly when gently patted across her left shoulder, back, and hip area," the SPCA said.
"There was an area of alopecia with red/purple colouring on her right flank, and almost the entire area of the back and inside of her thigh and hock, both areas were painful when touched and were consistent with bruising and trauma.
"Her left ear was thickened, and there were a couple of small red, raised lesions on the inside, and there were areas of pain in both her right forelimb and hind limb."
The vet concluded that Marama had suffered soft-tissue injuries consistent with the events described by the witness.
The SPCA said the beating would have been "immensely distressing" for the dog, leaving her in a state of shock due to the physical and emotional abuse.
At the Tauranga District Court, the man was sentenced to four months in prison, disqualified from owning companion animals for five years, and ordered to pay reparations of $198.50 and legal fees of $250.
His sentence would be served alongside a jail term for an unrelated police matter.
Marama was cared for by the SPCA and rehomed after her recovery.
SPCA chief executive Todd Westwood called the attack "horrifying".
“It’s heartbreaking to think of Marama going through such a cruel attack by a person who was meant to care for her wellbeing.
"Animals that endure treatment such as this have an ongoing battle learning to trust people due to the actions of one individual.
“This attack was both cruel and unnecessary, and I’m grateful that our Inspectors and police stepped in when they did.”
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