A man has faced court after being accused of animal cruelty offences against a kangaroo that was found with a rope around its neck beside a rural road.
Michael Anthony Holmes allegedly tied a rope around the neck of a female adult kangaroo and affixed it to the back of his car on a property on the afternoon of April 13.
Police allege the 61-year-old then dragged the animal 400m to a road near Bywong, in the NSW Southern Tablelands region, about 35km northwest of Canberra.
The seriously injured animal was discovered down an embankment with a rope still tied around its neck.
It had suffered severe lacerations to its rib and hip area but was still alive when a passer-by called an emergency wildlife rescue line.
A local rescue organisation picked up the kangaroo and took it to nearby Bungendore, but it died shortly before police arrived to investigate.
Holmes is charged with recklessly beating and causing prolonged suffering to an animal and committing an act of aggravated animal cruelty upon an animal.
He appeared before Queanbeyan Local Court on Monday, where his matter was adjourned until August.
Holmes pleaded not guilty to the offences when he first appeared before the Queanbeyan Local Court in May.
Prosecutors previously foreshadowed they would seek to rely on photographs of the kangaroo and its injuries as evidence in their case against him.
Holmes is not constrained by any bail conditions.
Kangaroos are protected native animals and it is an offence under NSW biodiversity laws to harm or attempt to harm them without a licence.
