A 58-year old man from Vittoriosa was fined a record €20,000 and jailed for nine months today after admitting to having caused the death of his pet, a female boxer dog found suffocating in a plastic bag that had been dumped in a skip in Kalkara.

The maximum fine that the court could have imposed was €30,000.

The court was told during a brief sitting this morning that the accused, Joseph Galea, had told the police that he decided to dispose of the dog because it was sick. The man walked for almost an hour  from Vittoriosa to Kalkara, where he dumped the dog in a skip.

"Skips are for the people's garbage, and not for animals," Prosecutor Inspector Fabian Fleri said, describing the crime as 'atrocious'

The Inspector pointed out that Mr Galea in 1988 was fined Lm25 after having kicked his dog.

Defence counsel Noel Camilleri said emotions should be kept in check, He pointed out that the accused is a government-employed watchman with six children. He also pointed out that in terms of the law, he had to be considered as a first-time offender, and therefore a jail term was not merited.

In its sentence the court also ordered that two other dogs be taken away from Mr Galea.

Mr Galea has filed an appeal and said he cannot afford the fine.

The four-year old dog, later named Gaia, was found alive on Friday morning by a jogger who heard noises coming from the skip. Despite efforts by the staff at San Franġisk Animal Hospital, at Ta’ Qali, to revive her, she died the same evening.

Police sources said officers from the Żabbar police station received a tip-off and investigated the case together with the Cospicua district police.