Dog killer appeal decision reserved

A Dunedin man who killed a dog by trying to strangle it, pouring petrol down its throat and hitting it over the head with a spade has appealed his one-year jail sentence.

Justice Fogarty reserved his decision on the appeal in the High Court at Dunedin yesterday, but the case could become the benchmark against which future sentences for animal cruelty are set.

The 12-month prison term handed down to Jeffrey Robin Hurring (19) in February for killing an 18-month-old Jack Russell dog named Diesel was the longest sentence for animal cruelty given in New Zealand.

SPCA counsel Kate Hay said the offending had involved a prolonged attack of extreme cruelty that lasted at least half an hour and it was "hard to imagine a worse case of cruelty".

It was likely the case would be seen as the benchmark to which future cases would be compared, she said.

Counsel for Hurring, Sarah Saunderson-Warner, said the sentencing judge had not accounted for Hurring's young age and lack of criminal convictions, and the 18 months starting point for determining the sentence had been set too high.

Hurring was "relatively naive", remorseful, "clearly affected by his offending" and had co-operated fully with the investigation, she said.

Justice Fogarty said he understood sentencing judge Stephen O'Driscoll had referred to an academic paper which said sentences handed down for animal cruelty were too low.

The author of the 2004 paper said judges were not yet taking heed of Parliament's intention to increase penalties for animal cruelty.

"The [sentencing] judge really decided to step up to the plate and go to a higher level. The question for me at the moment is whether that is right.

"It is always difficult for a district court judge to change a level of sentencing when there is a whole line of cases going the other way."

Ms Saunderson-Warner said there was a move to increase penalties for animal cruelty in 1999 when the law was changed.

However, an analysis of penalties given out before 1999 should be done, she said.

Both she and Ms Hay agreed they would research pre-1999 penalties and pass on their findings to Justice Fogarty.