A 53-year-old man was fined €1,200 for hitting his brother's dog with a piece of wood and slightly injuring the animal on the nose in what the court described as a "cowardly act".

Magistrate Neville Camilleri found Paul Attard, from Siggiewi, guilty of animal cruelty when he hurled a stone at the dog and hit him with a piece of wood.

Mr Attard and his brother lived in different parts of a family-owned farm in Siggiewi.

The magistrate heard how the incident - caught on CCTV - happened in November 2012 when Mr Attard was passing with his motorcycle in front of his brother's house - on his way to feed the animals -  and came across five dogs - four running around and one tied.

Mr Attard felt scared of the dogs and called out to his brother who shouted out that the dogs won't hurt him. 

But, in his testimony the accused said he still felt scared of the tied dog as it was blocking his path so he hurled a stone at it but did not hit the animal.

He then picked up a piece of wood and headed towards the dog to teach the dog a lesson. Mr Attard said he did not hit the dog, and insisted he acted in self-defence, but a vet testified that the dog had slight injuries on the nose and was "terrified and agitated".

The magistrate found the accused guilty of animal cruelty and said it was cowardly to assault a dog that was tied and could not escape. However, he said, he had to take into account that this was the first time the accused ever broke the law so a fine was appropriate in this case.