Man sentenced for killing dog found hanged

BENDIGO, Australia, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A Victoria, Australia, man received a six-month jail sentence for stealing and killing a dog found hanging from a tree.

Barry P. Rochford, 49, pleaded guilty in Victoria's Bendigo Magistrates Court to stealing the Irish wolfhound from a property near Ballarat two years ago, then killing it, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Wednesday. Rochford also confessed to stealing another Irish wolfhound from the same property, but it has yet to be found.

A pedestrian found the dead dog hanging from a tree in the town of Lake Eppalock, southeast of Bendigo, on Christmas Day, 2007.

Rochford, a former bank executive and an avid dog breeder, was sentenced to three months for animal cruelty and an additional three months for the theft of the dogs.

He is serving a sentence for arson offenses, committed two years ago, and was tried via a video link connecting the courthouse and the jail.