Man faces court for allegedly killing his dog

An elderly Sunshine Coast man has been charged with serious animal cruelty for allegedly killing his dog.

Andrew Yau Ho faced court charged with serious animal cruelty.

An elderly Sunshine Coast man has been charged with serious animal cruelty for allegedly killing his dog.

Andrew Yau Ho, 78, faced Caloundra Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with serious animal cruelty, which allegedly occurred in Maleny on May 9.

“A 78-year-old man was charged with serious animal cruelty after allegedly causing injury to his dog, which resulted in its death,” a police spokeswoman said.

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The spokeswoman said she could not give further details of the alleged injuries as the charges were now before the court.

Mr Ho told the court on Wednesday he had been trying to apply for legal aid.

Police prosecutor Mark Burrell told the court the police brief was ready but he didn’t think it would be appropriate distributing it to him considering the “distressing” nature of the photographs.

“Having a look at the charge, there’d some nasty photographs,” magistrate Stephen Courtney said.

He asked the prosecution if they could disclose the brief to Mr Ho without the photos.

The court heard the charge would need to be committed to the District Court.

It was adjourned to September 30 for witness availability.

Mr Ho remains on bail.

RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty said a second inspector for the Sunshine Coast and broader area had been hired earlier this year, due to the increasing workload.

In 2019, Nambour had more complaints than any other Coast area, with 48 reports to the RSPCA last year.

The suburbs with the second highest number of complaints were Beerwah and Buderim, both with 32 complaints each.

The RSPCA urges community members to call 1300 ANIMAL if they notice any animals being treated cruelly or neglected.

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