By staff writers From: NewsCore February 23, 2010 5:18PM
A NEW Zealand man was jailed for seven months for feeding five live kittens to his pet pitbull terrier, with the nation's peak animal welfare agency saying it was "satisfied" with the sentence.
Te Ahu Mankelow, 31, unemployed, was sentenced in the Gisborne District Court on New Zealand's North Island after pleading guilty to five charges of wilful ill treatment against an animal.
Robyn Kippenberger, SPCA National Chief Executive, told NewsCore that sentencing laws for animal cruelty would soon double in New Zealand due to new legislation currently before Parliament, but that the penalty imposed on Mankelow was in line with similar examples.
The court heard how an associate recorded video footage on a cellphone of Mankelow tipping five kittens from a box for his dog, which attacked them one by one, killing them all, local newspaper The Gisborne Herald reported.
Mankelow was heard urging the dog to eat the kittens and praising it for doing so.
Defense counsel Leighvi Maynard said Mankelow acknowledged the behavior was callous and cruel but he accepted responsibility and was deeply ashamed and remorseful.
Mankelow was banned from owning or having any interest in an animal for 10 years.
From: http://www.news.com.au/world/man-jailed-for-feeding-kittens-to-pitbull/story-e6frfkyi-1225833565589
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