Puppy killer gets 200 hours

A teenager who threw a 6-week-old puppy through the air and then kicked it like a football when it landed has been sentenced to 200 hours' community work.

The female puppy, one of a litter of Doberman-type pups, died soon afterwards from haemorrhaging resulting from a ruptured liver.

Halen Joseph Heemi, 17, formerly of Kaitaia, admitted an Animal Welfare Act charge laid by the Bay of Islands SPCA of wilfully ill-treating the puppy on Ahipara Beach, near Kaitaia, last February 3.

SPCA prosecutor Jim Boyd said Heemi was seen to take the puppy by the scruff of its neck and throw it with some force for about 10m.

When the animal landed in the sand, Heemi - wearing shoes - kicked it in the stomach with a force described by witnesses as "like kicking a football".

When challenged by people on the beach, the defendant ran to a waiting car and left the area. Witnesses immediately took the dog to a vet but it was dead.

Heemi was identified and charged after a local newspaper published an artist's impression of the offender.

When he appeared for sentencing in the Manukau District Court, Judge John Hole imposed 200 hours of community work and one year's supervision.

Heemi was also ordered to undertake alcohol and drug counselling as required by the probation service.

Mr Boyd said later the attack was particularly vicious. "I don't believe this sentence sufficiently denounces this type of violence and it does not act as a deterrent."

The maximum penalty for the offence is three years' jail, a $50,000 fine or both.

- NZPA