Whakatāne man hit dog so hard with broomstick that it broke, carried out beating in front of his kids

March 27, 2019

Warning: Some people may find the details in this story upsetting

A Whakatāne man has been sentenced to community service for beating his puppy for nine minutes in front of his children.

Dimitrie Apanui pleaded guilty in the Whakatāne District Court to one charge of ill-treatment of his puppy, King.

This morning he was sentenced to 240 hours’ community service, disqualified from owning animals for three years and ordered to pay the SPCA $314.17.

The attack was caught on CCTV in September 2018.

The footage showed Apanui chase King around the backyard and strike him with a small object at least six times, then with a broom with such force that it broke.

He continued to hurt King with the broken broom handle and then crushed King with his body weight against the ground and over the top of a wooden fence.

He then hit King with his hand three times, yanked him by a rope attached to his neck and swung King into a wooden fence.

King can be heard crying and yelping and trying to escape Apanui.

When Apanui was formally interviewed by SPCA inspectors he said he believed the dog had nipped one of his children telling them he was "only trying to contain the dog".

He admitted he may have gone overboard in the heat of the moment, but said he did not intend to hurt the dog.

King has since been re-homed to a loving family.


 

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