KAMLOOPS, B.C. – A 41-year-old British Columbia man has received a 12-month conditional discharge after beating the family’s chihuahua to death with a fence post.

Christopher Mathes was sentenced in Kamloops provincial court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal.

Mathes is also banned from being in the presence of dogs for one year.

He was charged just over a year ago after hitting the pet, a rescue dog, on the head with the post because it had bitten his six-year-old daughter on the face.

BC SPCA chief prevention and enforcement officer Marcie Moriarty says she is appalled by the decision.

She says Mathes could have turned to a trainer for help managing the dog’s behaviour and she worries the sentence will set a lenient legal precedent for anyone who mistreats animals.

“It is very worrisome, and I hope that, in future cases, this case gets distinguished as an oddity because it most certainly should not reflect what, in 2016, animal owners’ responsibilities are with respect to duty towards their animals,” Moriarty said. (CFJC, CHNL)