A man accused of beating his neighbour's pet dog to death has pleaded guilty to the five charges against him.
Steven John Leffanue, from Hayborough in regional South Australia, faced the Victor Harbor Magistrates Court on Monday morning.
The 57-year-old was charged over the death of his neighbour's dog, called Pup, in November last year.
Through his lawyer, Leffanue pleaded guilty to two counts of ill-treating an animal to cause death or serious harm, two counts of unlawfully being on premises and one count of dishonestly taking property without consent.
The hearing was adjourned until a psychological assessment report of Leffanue could be completed.
Magistrate Teresa Anderson accepted the pleas and remanded Leffanue on continuing bail.
'How could you?'
Outside court, about 50 members of the public gathered with their pet dogs to show support for Pup's owners.
Many of them were holding signs reading "How could you?" alongside a photo of Pup, and yelled at Leffanue as he left court.
Pup's owner Amie Sherwin said she had not known Leffanue before the incident.
"He's not someone I've known at all, and definitely not someone I'd want to know," she said.
An emotional Ms Sherwin said there were other ways Leffanue could have dealt with her barking dog.
"He didn't need to beat her twice to kill our baby."
She said she was grateful to members of the public — many of whom had shown up despite not knowing her family — for their support.
"To me, he doesn't belong in society with us, he doesn't belong in this community," Ms Sherwin said.
"The people in this community have shown how beautiful they are and he's certainly not a part of that.
"We are never, ever going to get over this."
The matter will return to court on May 3.
