Thug jailed for stabbing dog

DARLINGTON MAGISTRATES imposed their maximum sentencing powers on a man who ‘brutally and sadistically’ killed his own dog.

Earlier this week, Trevor Joseph Hind was jailed for six months and received a lifetime ban from keeping dogs after killing his Bull Terrier cross, Levi, at his Darlington home.

Newton Aycliffe Magistrates heard how jobless Hind, whilst drunk, stabbed Levi after the animal had ‘got the better’ of his other dog.

Police found the dog's bleeding body and the bloodstained 9ins knife at Hind's house in Melland Street, Darlington, on the evening of April 27, last year.

Hind denied causing unnecessary suffering to the animal but was found guilty after trial and had been bailed while pre-sentence reports were prepared.

Chairman of the bench, Brian Avery, said if the animal was deemed dangerous and had to be destroyed it was the job of a vet and should never have been killed in such a violent manner. ‘It is a most brutal way of killing a dog and the only sentence we can impose is one of custody,’ he said.