A South Australian court has been told a dog beaten to death by its neighbour after consistent barking over 20 months suffered some of the worst injuries an RSPCA vet had seen and its owner is now worried for her family's safety.
The owner of a pet dog brutally beaten to death south of Adelaide says she is afraid for her family's safety due to the attacker knowing where she lives.Steven John Leffanue pleaded guilty in February to killing his neighbour's pet dog
Steven John Leffanue, 57, pleaded guilty in February in the Victor Harbor Magistrates Court to two counts of ill-treating an animal to cause death or serious harm, two counts of unlawfully being on premises and one count of dishonestly taking property without consent. "The vet performing the necropsy said it was unusually severe trauma, and death is attributable to brain trauma and shock," the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor said the offence "does warrant a term of imprisonment to serve, not suspended", as a deterrent to Leffanue and the wider public.The dog's owner Amie Sherwin broke down as she read her victim impact statement to the court, which said her life had changed for the worse since "Pup" was killed in November, 2021.
"Our 12-year-old daughter wants to ask questions about Pup that I can't bring myself to answer, and my four-year-old son still asks when Pup's coming home, and looks for her everywhere we go."Leffanue's lawyer, David Mullen, said Leffanue had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder after the offence and his auditory hypersensitivity had been triggered by the dog barking over a period of 20 months.