A BASINGSTOKE man who strangled and killed his sister’s dog has avoided a jail sentence after magistrates heard he had been accepted into the army.

Stephen Graham Bullock killed the pet after being asked by his sister to rehome Alfie Moon, which was a cross between a German Shepherd and a lurcher.

But instead of finding the six-year-old dog another home, Bullock led it to a secluded wooded area off Thornycroft Lane in West Ham, Basingstoke and strangled it with its own lead on March 30 this year.

The court heard how a member of the public came across the gruesome sight of Alfie’s remains, half-buried and with a lead wrapped around his head.

Bullock, 23, pleaded guilty at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court to the charge of failing to protect an animal from pain, injury and suffering in contravention of the Animal Welfare Act.

Veterinary evidence showed the dog had been asphyxiated by his lead and would have suffered considerably before his death, the court heard.

Bullock, of Walnut Way, was banned from owning or keeping an animal for the rest of his life and was given a 12 month supervision order.

He was also ordered to carry out 50 hours unpaid community work and to pay £400 in costs. His defence argued in mitigation that he had recently been accepted to the army and that prison time would cause him to miss his basic training.

RSPCA Inspector Jan Edwards, who took the case to court, said: “This case is particularly distressing. In Alfie’s last moments he would have suffered pain and extreme distress whilst being strangled by Bullock. This was a brutal and calculated act which fills me with sadness, disbelief and horror.”

A microchip implant revealed Alfie was originally a rescue dog rehomed by the RSPCA Millbrook Animal Centre in Surrey three years ago.

An investigation found that his adopter had passed Alfie on to another owner, who had in turn passed him on to Bullock’s sister, who asked Bullock to rehome him.