The owner of a pet dog brutally beaten to death south of Adelaide says she is afraid for her family's safety due to the attacker knowing where she lives.
WARNING: This story contains graphic content that may disturb some readers.
Steven John Leffanue, 57, pleaded guilty in February in the Victor Harbor Magistrates Court to two counts of ill-treating an animal to cause death or serious harm, two counts of unlawfully being on premises and one count of dishonestly taking property without consent.
He was accused of beating the dog, taking it to an empty neighbouring property and leaving it there for five days before returning to kill it.
The police prosecutor on Tuesday told Magistrate Lynette Duncan that the vet who performed a necropsy on the dog said had suffered greatly.
"The vet performing the necropsy said it was unusually severe trauma, and death is attributable to brain trauma and shock," the prosecutor said.
"The RSPCA vet who had a part in reviewing the necropsy said that they were 'utterly appalled by the pain this dog would have endured before its death — I've been dealing with animal welfare reports for a long period and this is one of the worst I've come across'."
The court heard the dog suffered fractured nasal bones, a broken eye socket, loss of one eye, a ruptured kidney and internal bleeding, amongst other injuries.
"This is a disgusting crime — no animal should be treated like that," the police prosecutor said.
"Mr Leffanue went there on one occasion. He went there again to essentially finish off what he started.
"He clearly knew what he was doing was wrong, he didn't want to be caught."
The prosecutor said the offence "does warrant a term of imprisonment to serve, not suspended", as a deterrent to Leffanue and the wider public.
'She was my best friend'
The dog's owner Amie Sherwin broke down as she read her victim impact statement to the court, which said her life had changed for the worse since "Pup" was killed in November, 2021.
She told the court she was afraid for her children's safety, worried to leave her other pets at home alone and suffered from sleeping difficulties due to nightmares.
"Since Pup was taken from us, my life's changed in ways that make every single day so difficult," Ms Sherwin said.
Ms Sherwin said she used to enjoy being in her home alone, but now feels "so insecure and unsafe".
"I can't enjoy being outside in backyard anymore, knowing what was done to my beautiful girl out there," she said.
"Our 12-year-old daughter wants to ask questions about Pup that I can't bring myself to answer, and my four-year-old son still asks when Pup's coming home, and looks for her everywhere we go."
Dog's barking caused 'loss of control', lawyer says
Leffanue's lawyer, David Mullen, said Leffanue had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder after the offence and his auditory hypersensitivity had been triggered by the dog barking over a period of 20 months.
Mr Mullen told the court his client had no criminal history and had been receiving a disability support pension for the past two decades due to mental health issues.
He told the court Leffanue had knocked on Ms Sherwin's door several times to complain about the dog, wrote letters and also contacted the council to discuss his concerns about the barking.
Leffanue suffered sleep deprivation and anxiety, would go for walks to get away from the dog's barking, Mr Mullen said.
Leffanue has since sought psychological support through several providers, and a psychological report noted "there is a direct nexus between his previously undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder and the offending behaviour".
"He said in his interview with the psychologist that he was very, very sorry for harming the animal, he said that he could not understand how he could have killed it."
Leffanue remains on bail and will be sentenced on July 5.
