A Keighley man who killed his girlfriend’s dog after smacking the animal so hard it was left with injuries likened to being hit by a car has been banned from keeping animals for two years.

Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court heard Luke Simpson, 27, caused the two-year-old shih tzu's liver to rupture after delivering a single blow because the dog had made a mess on the floor.

Nigel Monaghan, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said the dog had appeared “lethargic” shortly after the incident at 7.30am on October 8 last year, but Simpson failed to take it to see a vet. The dog died of his injuries later that day.

“A post mortem was carried out and indicated that these injuries were most commonly found after a serious road traffic collision,” said Mr Monaghan.

Keith Blackwell, for the defendant, said Simpson was sorry for the “pain and anguish” caused to his girlfriend.

Simpson, of Laycock Lane, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal by subjecting it to physical violence and failing to protect it from pain, injury or suffering.

As well as the ban, magistrates handed him a 12-month community order with 80 hours’ unpaid work and ordered him to pay £1,000 towards prosecution costs.