Man who mistreated dog jailed

Far North man Joseph Rewha has been sentenced to nine months' jail for mistreating his German shepherd cross.

It is the toughest sentence to date handed down under an SPCA prosecution.

In February last year, the dog, Tipa, was tied to a car and pulled for 800 metres at speeds of up to 80 kilometres an hour, leaving injuries which included bone showing through its flesh.

The dog had earlier escaped its chain from its home at Rawhiti in the Bay of Islands.

Judge Russell Johnson says it was a callous action, and an unacceptable standard of conduct for human beings.

Together with nine months jail, the 51-year-old beneficiary has been prohibited from owning animals for the next seven years.

- NEWSTALK ZB