Beaten pit bull put down next day

A Timaru labourer has been found guilty of attacking a pit bull so viciously it had to be destroyed, after an argument with the dog's owner.

Neville Julian Tai, 37, was found guilty yesterday by Judge Joanna Maze in Timaru District Court of wilfully ill-treating the dog and assaulting a female. The charges related to an incident on April 29 last year.

The victim said she came home to find Tai drinking in the laundry of the home they lived in and an argument began. Police said Tai punched and kicked the victim and pulled her by her hair down a hallway. Her dog intervened and bit Tai on the arm.

Tai then hit the dog with the base of a chair so hard a vet had to put the dog down the next day.

The victim ran out of the house, but said she could hear the dog "screaming" when she left.

"I went to see the dog the next day. His face was smashed up and his legs. The whole body was just broken."

In a police interview next morning, Tai denied the assault and attacking the dog, but said he "wanted to kill him right there" after it bit him.

However, giving evidence yesterday, Tai said he and the victim had been in a scuffle when the dog attacked him.

He said he had hit the dog as it had him cornered and because he was affected by alcohol.

He hit the dog with the chair, which fell apart, he said. Then, when it came back again, he hit it twice with the base of the chair.

"I was attacked by a dog when I was four years old.

"It bit half my face off and I died twice on the operating table.

"I promised myself then I would never let a dog bite me again.

"It just brought memories back of when I was four years old."

The vet said the dog had significant head trauma and brain damage and was incapable of standing. The decision was made to put it down.

In her judgment, Judge Maze said the difference between Tai's versions made reliability an issue, and she did not believe his actions were that of self defence.

Tai was remanded on bail until March 22 for sentencing.

Other mattersZachary Stewart Haines, 21, of Timaru, breach of post detention and home detention conditions – 40 hours of community work.

- © Fairfax NZ News