Kitten killer on SPCA horror list of shame

A man who bashed and burned a kitten in front of his five-year-old granddaughter has been named in the SPCA's "List of Shame". Photo / Thinkstock

A man who bashed and burned a kitten in front of his five-year-old granddaughter and a teenager who bludgeoned 25 seals to death have been named in the SPCA's annual "List of Shame".

The 2011 list was released to highlight the most horrific cases of animal abuse throughout New Zealand.

It singled out 46-year-old Waikato man Shane Karekare, who was jailed for 18 months for killing a kitten at a Te Awamutu property.

He threw the animal down a concrete path and kicked it in the head after coming home in January.

Despite the pleas of his daughter and five-year-old granddaughter he then threw it in an incinerator in the backyard.

Jason Trevor Godsiff, 19, of Renwick, was put into the list for bludgeoning 25 seals, including newborn pups, to death with a metal pipe.

The SPCA said the teenager believed the seals were pests.

He was sentenced to two years in jail and a co-accused is also due to face charges.

Robyn Kippenberger, National Chief Executive of the Royal New Zealand SPCA, said the horrific cases of abuse were disturbing.

She said there was a proven link between animal abuse and acts of violence against other people.

"Once again there are cases of violence to animals being used to exert power and control over the families that love them. Most disturbingly there are also incidents of young men wantonly killing and injuring animals without apparent reason."

Parliament unanimously passed an amendment to the Animal Welfare Act in July 2010, increasing the maximum sentence for wilful cruelty to animals from three years to five years in jail.

The previous toughest sentence imposed under the previous act was 12 months' jail for Jeffrey Hurring, who in 2009 killed his Jack Russell dog after strangling it, pouring diesel down its throat and then hitting it over the head with a spade.

The worst animal abuse cases of 2011

* A Te Kuiti man beat a six-month old puppy to death with a golf club in a "prolonged and particularly brutal" act of cruelty. He was sentenced to 18 months jail for willful ill-treatment of an animal and was banned for life from owning another dog.

* In the Waikato, a 12 week old kitten was beaten and burned to death in Te Awamutu in front of the owner's daughter and 5 year-old granddaughter. The offender was been sentenced to 18 months jail and banned from owning an animal for ten years.

* A teenager in Kaikoura bludgeoned to death 25 seals, including newborn pups, with a metal pipe as he believed they were pests. Others were found to be still alive having suffered horrific injuries.

* A Canterbury man assaulted a young puppy, who had broken its legs in an earlier accident, for defecating inside. It was left to suffer from severe head trauma without being taken to a vetinarian.

* At Gate Pa in Tauranga, a young Pit Bull cross puppy had its ears severed and was found wandering and distressed. It is now permanently disfigured.

* A young man from Rangiora stabbed a Schnauzer multiple times in the back with a kitchen knife after an argument with his girlfriend.