An aggressive American bulldog stolen in a brazen burglary from Hastings pound has been issued a death warrant.
The dog, Kuri, was freed in an elaborate jailbreak at the Henderson St pound where it had been housed after it attacked a labrador just two days earlier.
The dog's owner, Thomas Joseph TeKuru, 31, appeared in Hastings District Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to charges of owning a dog that attacks a domestic animal, failing to register his dog and failing to muzzle it in a public place.
On August 17, a woman was walking her labrador on Heretaunga St when she noticed Te Kuru on a push-bike walking Kuri on a chain.
On seeing the labrador, Kuri lunged at her and her dog. The force pulled Te Kuru off the bike and he lost grip of the lead. The bulldog then attacked the labrador, and bit the owner when she attempted to pull the dogs apart.
Bystanders were forced to use a crow bar to prize open the bulldog's jaws.
The labrador survived yet needed veterinary attention.
Two days later, about 11.30pm, two men were caught on CCTV camera breaking through the roof of the pound, where they snatched Kuri and carried him to freedom.
The animal remains at large.
Court summaries showed the dog - previously owned by Te Kuru's former partner - was classified as menacing after it attacked another dog in Napier on January 6, 2009.
At yesterday's hearing, Te Kuru's lawyer Eric Forster said his client was suffering depression at the time of the attack, yet conceded he should have muzzled the animal.
Judge Bridget Mackintosh made an order for the dog's destruction. She also ordered Te Kuru pay veterinary fees of $82, court costs of $132 on each charge, solicitors fees of $346 and a fine of $300.
"The dog should not have been out in public without a muzzle and you must have known that," she said.
Hastings police told Hawke's Bay Today no further information had come to light regarding the burglary.
