Man sentenced to seven months home detention for beating puppies

It follows an investigation by SPCA Inspectors relating to an incident at a property where two approximately four-month-old puppies were beaten till they were lame.

“These puppies should have had better care from the person responsible for them, not made to cower in fear of being beaten,” laments SPCA CEO Todd Westwood.

In July last year, a member of the public could hear puppies screaming and saw two tan crossbreed puppies known as King and Hunnie in the front section of the offender’s property. The witness saw the puppies come around the house and run under a tree. She saw the offender approach the puppies, holding what appeared to be half a broken fence baton approximately 70cm long.

The witness saw the offender thrash around with the fence baton for a few minutes then one of the puppies, Hunnie, ran from under the tree and down the road. The other puppy, King, ran to the front porch appearing to be lame on his left hind leg.

As the offender hit King several times with the baton using his full force, the puppy could be heard screaming.

The front door of the house opened, and the man and King went inside. The witness heard multiple thumps with pauses in between. Each thump was accompanied by a screaming puppy sound.

SPCA was alerted and attended the property a short time later.

King was lame on his right leg, had blood on his gums, a small cut on his tongue, and darker patches on his feet which may have been bruising.

The other puppy, Hunnie, was also lame on her right hind leg and looked to have a bloodshot eye.

Both puppies behaved fearfully around the offender, shaking, and crouching low with tails between their legs.

The puppies were taken into SPCA’s possession for veterinarian examinations which revealed King had a broken thigh bone, a broken rib, a bruised lung, and a painful air pocket in his chest. Hunnie had a fractured pelvis and suspected blunt trauma to her top right hindlimb.

The Veterinarian concluded the injuries would have caused severe pain for the puppies both at the time of injury and after and were consistent with blunt force trauma. Fracture margins were found to be sharp, suggesting they were fresh.

The offender declined to be interviewed.

“I am grateful to the member of public for her brave intervention to get help for the puppies,” says Mr Westwood.

“You heard their helpless screams and knew to take action, thank you.”

The offender was also disqualified from owning dogs for a period of seven years.