A five-month-old puppy was kept alive despite advice to euthanise it after the dog was dragged behind a ute and had its leg ripped open and snapped in two.

The Staffordshire Terrier suffered severe injuries to its right hind leg last year, and later died from its injuries.

Wharekawa pleaded guilty in Tauranga District Court after his five-month-old puppy was dragged behind the back of a ute and severely injured.

Tauranga man Jarrod Wharekawa tied his crossbred puppy Temtem to the back of his ute in September and drove off.

The 37-year-old pleaded guilty to two charges in Tauranga District Court yesterday and was sentenced to 100 hours community work for each and ordered to pay reparations of $637.90.

The charges were failing to protect his puppy from significant injury by tethering it on the back of his utility vehicle in such a manner that did not prevent it from falling or jumping off, and keeping the puppy alive when it was it was suffering unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress.

After being tied to the vehicle on September 3, 2014, the dog jumped or fell off the vehicle and was dragged along the road for some distance, says Tauranga Animal Welfare Inspector Jason Blair.

Wharekawa took the puppy to a vet's clinic where the veterinarian discovered tendons severed or missing and bone exposed and ground down by the road surface.

The skin on the puppy's rear and other places on its body had been rubbed raw, exposing the flesh underneath, while the vet also suspected its pelvis was fractured.

Wharekawa refused to accept the veterinarian's advice that euthanasia was the best option to end the dog's suffering, and the animal was released under strict instructions for it to be returned for further assessment the following morning.

After Wharekawa failed to return with the puppy, the clinic informed the authorities, and Jason visited the owner's property – only to be verbally abused by Wharekawa's father and told that the puppy was dead.

Having secured a search warrant, Jason returned the following day to find the puppy alive, but with malodourous and infected wounds. The dog was then taken to the vet's clinic to be euthanised.

Jason says: 'The owner obviously didn't wish his puppy to be injured in the first place and his reluctance to return to the vet clinic may have been due to his not being able to face having his pet euthanised.

'This does not, however, change the resulting severe suffering of the animal. Animal owners must be aware that they have a duty of care and protection over their animals and a responsibility to alleviate the pain of a suffering animal.

'The owner's failings in this case were inexcusable and charges were laid accordingly.”

Royal New Zealand SPCA CEO Ric Odom says animals falling from moving vehicles is a common occurrence, and the resulting injuries are often horrific.

'Society has moved on from travelling with unrestrained children in the back of vehicles and we now need to extend the same sort of consideration to the safety of our animals,” says Ric.

'A ‘she'll be right' attitude can no longer tolerated when it comes to the transportation of animals on utes and other vehicles.

'Recently developed codes of welfare around transporting animals reflect this shift in societal attitude. People that transport their animals in an unsafe manner run the very real risk of being prosecuted should injury occur.”