Dog killer tops SPCA's annual list of shame

Jeffrey Hurring was sentenced to 12 months in jail for killing an 18-month-old Jack Russell. Photo / Otago Daily Times

Animal welfare chiefs have revealed their list of shame - 52 acts of serious cruelty in New Zealand in the past 12 months.

National SPCA boss Robyn Kippenberger said the year had seen more "extreme" cases than ever and urged Kiwis to back Paw Justice, a campaign for tougher laws on animal abuse.

Two stuntmen and boxer Shane Cameron's manager started the campaign which is backed by Lucy Lawless and stars from Shortland Street and Outrageous Fortune.

They launched a petition last month calling for MPs to increase the sentence for neglect from six months to a year, and for wilful ill-treatment from three years to five.

Topping the list is Dunedin 19-year-old Jeffrey Hurring, who in June received the longest sentence in New Zealand for animal cruelty - 12 months in jail for killing an 18-month-old Jack Russell. Hurring's sentence was reduced to 10 months after a judge ruled not enough consideration had been given to his guilty plea, age, naivety, immaturity and lack of criminal convictions.

Hurring tried to strangle the dog using a chain and when the dog was still alive 30 minutes later, poured petrol down its throat, put a pillow case in its mouth and finally hit it with a spade.

He was also banned from owning a dog for 10 years, ordered to pay almost $1200 reparation to the SPCA and to continue counselling for drinking and other issues.

Other cases on the list include:

Wayne Williams, 34, of South Auckland: sentenced to four months in jail for beating his partner's dog Gee Gee with a metal pole, before strangling it to death.

Kurt Sharp, 18, of Waiuku: sent to jail for eight months for attacks on three pet goats. Two of the goats died after he tied them to the towbar of a car and dragged them along the road before they died. He was also sentenced for burglary offences and received a total two years' jail. Rodney John Burt, 50, a builder from Christchurch: fined $3800 for starving and dumping a dog.

Pukekohe woman Liz Tonga, 54: banned from owning an animal for five years after her dog was found in an emaciated condition.

Peter James Cooksley, 48: fined $500 and ordered to pay $1030 costs for killing a cat with a crossbow last December.

Kippenberger said she was bracing herself for summer when there tended to be a spike in acts of cruelty against animals.