A man who admitted to shooting his Doberman was today condemned to a 15-month jail term suspended for three years. The court also ordered the confiscation of the gun.

George Borg, 64, had admitted the charges, saying he shot the dog because it had attacked him and he could not cope with it any more. He also said he loved his dog.

The dog was found tied to a tree in Wied Il-Ghasel, Mosta, last week.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras said the evidence did not show that Mr Borg used to cause harm to his dog. Nor had he intended animal cruelty.

The law laid down that methods of slaughter had to be those which caused least suffering and it listed methods which were prohibited, such as suffocation, the use of poison and electric shocks.

Mr Borg had not used a method which caused physical or mental suffering to the animal.

However the fact that he had decided to kill the animal was not justified in any way and violated the law as no one could kill a domesticated animal, the court said.

Dr Caroline Farrugia was defence counsel.