No conviction for Hamilton pig killer accused

FARMER: Logan Dawson when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court on cruelty charges.

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A Hamilton dairy farmer who filmed his dogs viciously attacking a live pig has been discharged without conviction.

Logan Joel Dawson, 24, originally faced six charges laid by the SPCA under the Animal Welfare Act: two charges of ill-treating an animal by allowing three dogs to attack it, two charges of encouraging  the dogs to attack the boar and two charges of wilfully ill-treating a boar with the result of dying by stabbing it repeatedly on March 1, 2011.

However, at his second appearance in Hamilton District Court in November, Dawson intimated he would admit four charges, while the SPCA withdrew two others a hearing earlier this month.

In the Hamilton District Court this afternoon, Dawson was successful in applying for a discharge without conviction.

Dawson filmed the attack on the pig and loaded the video entitled Pigsty Carnage on YouTube.

The wild boar had earlier been caught by Dawson and held captive at his Horsham Downs property for several months until the incident last year.

Dawson held the boar by its back legs as the dogs attacked it.

He then stabbed it, causing it to bleed, as the dogs continued to attack before eventually sticking the knife in the pig's throat.

The charges of encouraging the dogs to attack the boar were a first of their kind for the SPCA.

- © Fairfax NZ News