A MAN battered a dog to death with a baseball bat – because he thought it was “old and smelly”.

Jack Russell Emmy died at the hands of David Knight, of Hurstwood, Deighton, in an horrific, drink-fuelled attack.

Huddersfield Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday how a vet said Emmy had been repeatedly struck around the head with the bat and would have died in severe pain.

Knight, 45, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal by beating it to death.

He was jailed for five months.

Tanya Forret, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said on July 17 last year the RSPCA received a call from the dog’s “distressed” owner Robert Van Delft.

Mrs Forret said: “The owner said Knight had attacked the dog with a baseball bat and hit the dog and continued to hit it until it was dead.”

The vicious attack happened on Brooklands in Bradley in Mr Van Delft’s living room.

Mr Van Delft told the RSPCA officer attending the scene that Knight had thought the dog was too old and smelly and had decided to kill it.

In a statement he said: “And then without warning, I saw him reach to the side of the settee and pick up the baseball bat.”

Mr Van Delft then saw Knight smash Emmy in the face and head with the baseball bat four times.

Emmy was lying on the floor whimpering before Knight hit her another three to four times.

Mr Van Delft said: “Emmy then went quiet and I knew she had died.”

He picked up his pet and cradled her in his arms before the RSPCA officer arrived. During his interview with the RSPCA, Knight said the dog was 15-years-old and was ready to die.

He said he had told Mr Van Delft many times to take her to the vet.

He said: “The dog was too old and Mr Van Delft kept picking her up like a teddy bear and cuddling her.”

Mrs Forret said Emmy was found buried in the front garden and had to be dug back up.

She was covered in blood and her eyeball had dislodged.

Vet Julia Froom, from Donaldson and Partners Veterinary Surgeons, examined the dog’s body.

She said Emmy hadn’t been killed by the first blow with the bat but had been “repeatedly beaten with a great deal of force” and died from multiple fractures and haemorrhages.

She said the dog would have suffered a great deal of pain.

Kathryn Watson, defending Knight, said he had known Mr Van Delft for many years and had gone back to his house after a night out drinking. Miss Watson said Knight had said he and Mr Van Delft had agreed that he would kill the dog to “put it out of its misery”.

She said: “Mr Knight had worked on farms and said he knew how to end an animal’s life.

“He accepts that Mr Van Delft changed his mind – but he was in drink and he couldn’t see the dog suffer any longer.

“The back legs of the dog were still kicking so he hit it a further two times to make sure he ended its life.”

Chairman of the magistrates Elizabeth Rogan sentenced Knight to five months in prison.

She said: “This offence is so serious that only immediate custody is appropriate.

“This is a systematic, violent attack using a weapon on a vulnerable dog for gratuitous pleasure.”

She said Knight’s previous convictions showed violence.

Knight is banned from keeping animals for life.