Dog walker escapes jail after axing pet Akita to death

Tempa the Akita dog was attacked by Kevin Dixon. Picture: Ross Parry Agency

Kevin Dixon, 35, was previously found guilty of causing Tempa, an Akita-type dog, necessary suffering on the night of May 16, 2014.

An earlier hearing heard that he had hit Dixon said he would take the animal for a “last walk” before hitting it seven times with an axe - killing it.

Dixon, of Newsome, Huddersfield, had initially claimed the dog had not suffered when he attacked it and the assault had been all over and done with “from first blow to last in 10 seconds.”

But he was convicted by magistrates after further evidence was presented in a case brought by the RSPCA at trial earlier in the year.

They decided the dog had suffered unnecessary suffering when Dixon took an axe to it in the pitch dark.

On Wednesday Dixon was handed an 18 week jail sentence, suspended for two years and disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years.

Previously, the court heard that the dog’s owner, Amanda Hamer, had been unable to walk the dog after suffering a severe whiplash injury in the early part of 2014, and Dixon had offered to walk it.

Kirklees Magistrates Court heard the dog had a history of biting people and Dixon had decided to kill the dog after it bit a woman, following a party at Amanda’s home.

Speaking at trial, Dixon said he was worried it might bite one of the children sleeping there overnight.

Sentencing Dixon on Wednesday, Chairman of the Bench Sue Collins, told the defendant his actions were “unacceptable” and he had caused “suffering to the dog” but accepts “he is remorseful and didn’t want to cause harm”.

Catherin McCullagh, for Dixon, said: “Clearly Mr Dixon’s actions were undesirable if I can put it that way, as well as illegal.”

Speaking after the sentence, mum-of-one Amanda, 43, said: “The sentence is too light for somebody who has taken a member of the family.

“Tempa was part of the family, my daughter’s best friend. She absolutely loved him - she has had an awful time through this.

“I’m not happy with the sentence.

“He hit it seven times with an axe and then he bragged about it in the village, saying he would do it again.”

Dixon was also made the subject of a six-month curfew and must pay £1,500 in costs.