A man who punched a dog to death after it defecated on his bed and then bit him has failed to dodge a conviction.
Boqing Tao, 26, will now likely be taken away from his wife and baby and deported back to China.
His lawyer Owen Martell applied for a discharge without conviction at Auckland District Court yesterday but Judge Grant Fraser declined it, saying it was "serious animal welfare offending".
"We're dealing with a small, defenceless animal against the powerful force of your punches honed in the gym."
He said the animal was "punched to death then callously burned and disposed of at a beach".
The court was told the 6-month-old pomeranian dog called Mia - which belonged to a friend of Tao's flatmate - had been left at the central Auckland apartment on January 28 last year.
After finding the dog had defecated on his bed Tao grabbed it and was then bitten, sparking a "momentary loss of control and fit of anger", according to his counsel.
But Judge Fraser said the defendant had also attacked the dog earlier in the day when he threw its bed on top of it and punched it through the fabric.
Mia had trouble breathing and died shortly after the second attack, during which Tao threw three or four punches.
Later he burned the body at a west Auckland beach.
When interviewed by police he simply told them: "I go to the gym and practise boxing.
"My punch is very powerful".
Also weighing against Tao was the fact he had been illegally in the country for the past three and a half years and Mr Martell said if he was convicted of wilfully illtreating an animal he would have "no show" of getting a visa.
Tao will be sentenced next month.