Gisborne man jailed for feeding kittens to dog

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A Gisborne man who fed five live kittens to his dog has been jailed for seven months.

Te Ahu Aaron Mankelow, 31, was sentenced in Gisborne District Court this afternoon after earlier admitting five counts of wilfully ill-treating an animal.

As well as the prison term, the judge banned Mankelow from owning or caring for animals for 10 years.

The SPCA said it was disappointed at the sentence, with national chief executive Robyn Kippenberger describing Mankelow's actions as sick, heartless and utterly reprehensible.

On September 27 last year, Mankelow found a box containing the five kittens.

With another person, he took the box and tipped the kittens out against the roots of a tree in a park.

One by one, his dog, known as PP, began to destroy the kittens, killing them by biting their bodies.

This was recorded on Mankelow's mobile phone, which was later found by a member of the public who, upon seeing the video, handed the device to the Gisborne SPCA.

Squeals of the agonised and terrified kittens, as they were put to death, were clearly heard on the recording, along with Mankelow's voice urging his dog to bite and kill them.

When two of the kittens managed to struggle a few feet away, Mankelow grabbed them and threw them back to be killed by PP.

The video clearly showed Mankelow's distinctively tattooed arm as he fed a kitten to his dog.

PP was later identified by SPCA inspectors, in part by the distinctive collars and very heavy chain to which he was attached.

Trained to viciously attack other animals, PP was unable to be re-homed by the SPCA and had to be euthanased.

"We are disappointed that Mankelow has not been given a considerably tougher sentence for the horrendous offences he committed against five very young kittens," Ms Kippenberger said.

"Even though Mankelow has not received anything like the highest level of sentencing available to the courts under current legislation, this result clearly reinforces the need for higher upper sentencing limits in animal cruelty cases.

"These are provided for in the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill, which began its first reading in Parliament last night.

"Our hope is that MPs will take note of what has happened in this case and ensure that much tougher sentences are made possible."

- NZPA