A man charged with the killing of a miniature horse near Dunedin has been sentenced to two-and-half-year imprisonment.
Reginald Robert Ozanne, 50, was today sentenced in the Dunedin District Court, after pleading guilty to willfully ill-treating an animal in early 2019.
On the night of February 17, 2019, Ozanne entered a paddock in Waitati near Dunedin, where a miniature horse known as Star lived.
He then stabbed the animal 41 times, with deep wounds to his back and neck.
Despite initially surviving, the horse died on Tuesday 19 February.
Stars owner Mandy Mayhem-Bullock read her victim impact statement to the court, saying "when this happened, our whole world was turned upside down".
Reg Ozanne spoke with Seven Sharp’s Julian Lee.
“This has been a long painful drawn out experience and we can’t put it behind us,” she told the court.
Ozanne initially denied stabbing the miniature horse, proclaiming his innocence on TVNZ1’s Seven Sharp programme.
Star's owner also noted Ozanne tried to come to their family home following the incident, saying he didn’t commit the crime.
Star was stabbed 41 near times in his paddock near Dunedin.
Ozanne’s attorney claimed he did not remember the evening in question, saying he had drunk half a bottle of home-brew whiskey earlier that night.
His defence says Ozanne is currently undergoing help for alcohol and substance abuse.
Mr Ozanne pleaded guilty to the stabbing in March.
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