Dog owner banned for life after CCTV caught him punching and kicking pet
A cruel pet owner who was caught on CCTV punching, kicking and slapping his dog has been banned from keeping animals for life.
Harrowing footage captured Mason Sestanovich, 24, brutally beating his cowering pooch called Chicago at a block of flats in Sheffield.
The RSPCA launched an investigation after the video came to light and was passed to the charity by a housing manager in October 2023.
An RSPCA officer attended the flat and found the poor bullbreed dog being kept in a crate without any bedding or water.
Sestanovich was charged with inflicting blunt force trauma, physical violence and intimidatory behaviour on the canine under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
He admitted the charges and narrowly avoided being jailed after being handed a 16 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months at
Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on May 1.
Sestanovich, of Wincobank, Sheffield, was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and ten rehabilitation activity requirement days, pay £400 court costs and a victim surcharge of £154.
A clinical behaviourist at the RSPCA, who examined the footage, said: “Chicago was grabbed roughly and beaten and the dog’s body language expressed extreme fear and the violence of the man’s gestures indicates the blows were delivered to the dog with extreme violence and caused pain.”
A vet who examined Chicago said that a full-body scan showed no evidence of any historic injuries - but blood tests indicated the dog had suffered stress, which was possibly from the physical beating.
The vet added: “During the beating (on the footage) it was obvious the dog was scared as she was cowering and defecating.”
Sestanovich claimed Chicago was an XL bulldog but refused to sign the canine over into the care of the RSPCA or register her which he was told he needed to do to comply with the new law.
Chicago was later confirmed as an XL bully when she was assessed at a rehoming centre and due to the current Government legislation on ‘typed’ dogs she had to be put to sleep.
The court was told that Sestanovich regretted his actions and was ashamed of his behaviour towards the dog.