RSPCA charge man who kicked dog on Gold Coast with animal cruelty

THE RSPCA have charged a man who allegedly kicked and choked his pet dog at a popular Gold Coast beach despite an online petition suggesting otherwise.

THE RSPCA has charged a man who allegedly kicked and choked his pet dog at a popular Gold Coast beach.

It comes as a Change.org petition recently launched suggested the RSPCA would not charge the man, which spokesman Michael Beatty said was incorrect.

The petition has since gathered nearly 50,000 signatures.

A man has allegedly kicked and choked his staffy in a video that went viral earlier this week on the Gold Coast.

Mr Beatty confirmed had charged the man under the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001, adding he hoped any punishment reflected the severity of the offence.

He is charged with one count of animal cruelty.

A local woman filmed the ordeal, which showed a man hauling an excited blue staffy off the back of a black ute before giving it a violent kick at the Palm Beach Parklands earlier this week.

In the footage the man appears to snap the leash back sharply a number of times, in an attempt to settle the dog.

The man accused of abusing his staffy at Palm Beach could be charged

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A woman in the footage handles another dog, which has not been subject to an investigation.

Mr Beatty said the second dog in the footage did not belong to the man and was in good health, so was not seized.

Inspectors seized the blue staffy 24 hours after the footage emerged and transported the dog to the Wacol shelter.

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“It’s not up to the RSPCA to say (whether the dog would be returned to its owner), that’s up to the courts to determine,” he said.

Mr Beatty said if the dog was not returned to the original owner, it would be put up for adoption after undergoing behaviour and health checks.

“The process would be the same as our other 600 dogs across the state,” he said.