A Canberra man accused of beating two pitbulls tied to a clothesline with a broom handle has been banned from owning animals for a decade.
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RSPCA ACT said its inspectors were called to the Isabella Plains home after a complaint about the condition of the two dogs.
The two dogs, Hank and Honey, were found tethered by a wire to a clothesline in the rain, surrounded by faeces, inspectors said.
A member of the public told the RSPCA they had witnessed the man beating the dogs with his fist and the broom handle and that the dogs had been tied to the clothesline for at least six months.
According to a statement from the RSPCA, its inspectors saw the dogs "cower away" from the man holding the broom.
The man admitted to RSPCA inspectors he struck the dogs "about three or four times to quieten them down".
Inspectors seized the the dogs, and subsequent veterinary examination revealed both dogs had abrasions.
The RSPCA said Honey was thin, with red, raw eyes, calluses on her legs and a graze on her right paw.
They said Hank was suffering from raw open sores on his ears, abrasions over his belly and his scrotum was chapped, grazed with flaky scabbing.
The dog had also lost a "great deal" of hair on the tip of his tail and his collar was dirty and extremely tight causing a rash.
Hank and Honey have since been re-homed.
The man pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the ACT Magistrates Court to a 12 month good behaviour bond for not providing adequate shelter, and a one month suspended sentence on the cruelty charge, in addition to his decade-long animal ownership ban.
