A 46-year-old man jailed for 18 months after beating and burning a kitten, was told he had given his own granddaughter nightmares after she witnessed the killing.
Shane Karekare appeared in the Te Awamutu District Court yesterday charged with wilfully ill-treating an animal, after launching a murderous attack on the 12-week-old kitten because it got in his way.
According to Fairfax Media, Karekare threw the kitten on to a concrete path then kicked it in the head before setting it alight in a backyard incinerator.
He paid no attention to the cries of his daughter and granddaughter who witnessed the attack.
Judge David Ruth said it was the most cruel act he could imagine, and the fact he did it in front of his five-year-old granddaughter made it even more disgusting.
Karekare was also disqualified from owning an animal for 10 years.
During sentencing, Judge Ruth referred to the sentencing last week in Te Kuiti of a man jailed for 18 months after beating a pup to death with a golf club.
However the judge said what Karekare did was much worse.
“This was an appalling act of cruelty.”
SPCA national chief executive Robyn Kippenberger said changes to animal protection legislation last July were starting to take effect and the two cases would act as a benchmark.
“This was truly the act of a coward,” she said.
3 News