Case Details

Dog thrown, kicked to death
Kaitaia, NL (NZ)

Incident Date: Thursday, Feb 3, 2005
Disposition: Convicted

Abuser/Suspect: Halen Joseph Heemi

Case ID: 5673
Classification: Kicking/Stomping, Throwing
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
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A Kaitaia teenager who kicked a six-week-old puppy so hard it died of its injuries could face up to three years in jail.

Halen Joseph Heemi, a 17-year-old road worker, has pleaded guilty in the Manukau District Court to ill-treating a doberman-type puppy.

The court heard that Heemi, who had owned the puppy for less than half an hour, threw it 10 metres into the air and when it landed on the ground he booted it like a football, killing it.

Now living in Manukau, he will be sentenced at the Manukau court on November 4. The maximum penalty is three years imprisonment and/or a $50,000 fine.

Bay of Islands SPCA inspector and prosecutor Jim Boyd said Heemi went to a dog-breeding acquaintance's home at Ahipara on February 3 and convinced the breeder to allow him to take one of the puppies.

Heemi and a friend then drove around the area for a short time, with the puppy sitting on Heemi's lap, before parking at Ahipara beach.

Heemi played with the puppy and teased it before taking it by the scruff of its neck and throwing it with "substantial force".

The puppy travelled about 10 metres through the air before landing in the sand and yelping on impact.

"The defendant then approached the puppy and kicked it violently in the stomach with force that was described by eye witnesses as like kicking a football," Mr Boyd said.

The puppy was propelled through the air for a short distance and screamed in pain from the impact.

Heemi, who was wearing shoes at the time, was challenged by eye witnesses but ran to the car and drove off with his friend.

Witnesses took the puppy to a veterinarian 14km away but it was dead on arrival at the clinic.

A post-mortem examination revealed it died from hemorrhaging resulting from a ruptured liver.

Mr Boyd said after Heemi's guilty plea that it was one of the most severe violence cases he had seen.

In addition to any penalty the court imposes on Heemi, the SPCA is also seeking to disqualify him from owning or having authority over any type of animal for an indefinite period of time and is seeking veterinary and inspectors' expenses totalling $614.

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References

New Zealand Herald - Sept 1, 2005
The Northern Advocate - Sept 1, 2005
The Northland Age - May 17, 2005

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