Man jailed, banned from owning animals after slitting puppy's throat

A man has been jailed for more than two years after slitting a dog's throat.

An Auckland man who slit the throat of his flatmate's puppy has been jailed for more than two years.

Micha Brotherston was convicted of wilful ill-treatment and ill-treatment of an animal and sentenced to 26 months' jail in the North Shore District Court today.

He has also been disqualified from owning animals for seven years and ordered to pay $1472 in veterinary fees, $1000 reparation and $500 to each victim.

The case began on February 5 2018, when Brotherston confronted his flatmates, accusing them of stealing his property and ordered them to leave the address.

The couple began packing their car with their belongings along with their two dogs, Turbo, a 10-month-old Kelpie cross puppy, and Nova, a bull terrier cross.

Upon returning to the car with more belongings, the woman saw the offender standing at
the driver's door of her vehicle.

She saw him holding a filleting knife with a curved blade, which was about 30cm long.

Brotherston had cut Turbo's throat across the front of his neck.

The woman had interrupted him while he was cutting Nova's throat, which was cut across
half of her neck.

Turbo jumped out of the vehicle and walked around disorientated, with a large open gaping wound on his neck.

The cut had gone through the skin, wind pipe, oesophagus, lateral neck muscles and associated structures of the deep muscle of the spine.

"Turbo collapsed in front of his owner, who held him while he died in a pool of his blood, his tail still wagging," the SPCA said today.

"A veterinarian concluded that Turbo experienced serious pain and distress before he
became unconscious and died.

"Nova was transported immediately to a veterinarian, and fortunately survived her injuries."

She was given pain relief and the wound was closed with staples, with a follow up of antibiotics for five days afterwards.

"The owners of the animals found the event traumatic," an SPCA spokesperson said.

"They travelled from the scene, with Nova bleeding in their car, to transport her to the veterinarian.

"They then arrived at North Shore Police Centre covered in blood from the animal."

SPCA chief executive officer Andrea Midgen said the offending was "unfathomable".

"There is a proven correlation between violence against animals and violence against
people, and thus, this sort of crime is particularly horrendous," she said.

"I am pleased to see the sentence handed down for this egregious crime, sending a strong message that the full extent of the law will be applied to offenders who commit these unspeakable acts."