A man who threw a dog against a wall last year, causing it to go blind in one eye, must pay about $3000 and cannot own or look after domestic pets for five years.
Tauranga District Court Photo: SunLive
Alexander McGregor from Mount Maunganui was sentenced at Tauranga District Court this morning.
McGregor and his girlfriend were meant to be taking care of Rafa, a male Maltese cross-breed dog belonged to the girlfriend's mother.
McGregor got annoyed, picked the dog up and carried him down the hallway to a bedroom where he threw it, in a rugby-pass motion, forcibly into the room.
Rafa hit an internal wall and sustained a serious injury to his eye, the SPCA said.
When spoken to by an SPCA Inspector, McGregor admitted his actions and said the dog was not well trained and was "preventing him from relaxing".
The injury was extremely painful for Rafa, which cried out when his neck and face were moved. It was confirmed he had permanent loss of sight in his left eye, SPCA said.
Jason Blair, the organisation's team leader of the inspectorate in Tauranga, said McGregor's behaviour was inexcusable.
"It sends a clear message out there in terms of the sentence that violence towards animals will not be tolerated by either the community or the SPCA.
"The case was really worthy of bringing before the court and having someone convicted or prosecuted for that."
McGregor was ordered to pay $2000 to SPCA, reparations of $824.70 to the dog's owner, and court costs of $130.