Matej Ciroka – Manchester

A thug who laughed while he brutally stabbed his puppy to death with a kitchen knife and lied to vets about how he died has been jailed

Matej Ciroka has been jailed for 18 months and banned from keeping animals for life after stabbing his seven-month-old Shar Pei, Aki, in the rib.

The 23-year-old took the dead pup to the vets and claimed he had been injured in an accident.

Ciroka, of HMS Forest Bank in Manchester, was sentenced at Stoke Crown Court on Monday (15 Dec) after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal under the Animal Welfare Act.

A veterinary nurse told the court she immediately became suspicious after discovering a deep wound to the dog’s flank

She said in a written statement: “Whilst carrying the dog through, I saw no signs of life.

“I placed the dog on a table and checked.

“There were no signs of respiration, pupils fixed and dilated and no heartbeat.”

The court heard she enquired what had happened to the dog and she was informed by the man “that the pet had fallen onto the corner of a coffee table and then collapsed, and was struggling to breathe”.

But they found a puncture wound around two centimetres deep, consistent with a stabbing.

Police later seized a kitchen knife from the scene, which was used as evidence.

Aki’s body was taken into the care of the RSPCA, where a post-mortem examination confirmed the injuries were deliberately inflicted.