Man sentenced for animal cruelty

A sentence handed out to man who bound a dog's mouth shut and tied up its legs shows that animal cruelty will not be tolerated, an Auckland council said today.

Fukahetau Togafana, who pleaded guilty to charges relating to an incident last year, was sentenced in Waitakere District Court this week to 250 hours' community service, ordered to pay $603.75 in costs and disqualified from owning a dog for five years.

Waitakere District Council animal welfare unit manager Neil Wells said the sentence was "pretty high" and showed that the judge appreciated the severity of the case.

"We hope it will make people realise that this is not acceptable behaviour," he said.

Unit staff were called to a Massey property last December and found a dog with its mouth bound by electrical tape and its legs tied with rope.

Mr Wells said it was believed the dog's mouth had been taped to stop the animal from ripping into rubbish bags.

He said the tape was so tight it had cut in to the flesh and it appeared the dog had been bound before, as its face had swollen scars and dead tissue and there were lesions on its legs.

"This is a pretty rare case for us, but as you can imagine, it was extremely traumatic for all our staff," he said.

The dog ended up having to be put down because it had been so affected psychologically by the abuse that it could not be placed in another home, despite efforts by staff and a foster family.