Court hears how accused slammed partner’s small dog twice before killing it in domestic argument

A 31-year-old man was arraigned after being accused of slamming his partner’s small dog to the floor twice during a domestic argument at their Marsaskala home.

Deljo Nakov, a North Macedonian security guard residing in Marsaskala, pleaded not guilty to a string of charges, including domestic threats, harassment, and killing a domesticated animal.

The court heard that on 1 March, officers from the Domestic Violence Unit received a report from Marsaskala about an incident that had allegedly taken place earlier that day.

The alleged victim told police that she and her partner had argued in the afternoon because he had been drinking. She described him as someone who “always wants cuddling and foreplay”, saying the dispute escalated and he left the residence, only to return at around 7:30 pm smelling of alcohol once again.

According to her account, the argument resumed when she commented on the smell of alcohol coming off him. At one point, the victim lay on the bed, and her small dog jumped up beside her. She said he became angry, grabbed the dog and threw it off the bed, slamming it onto the floor, not once, but twice. She told police that shortly afterwards she realised the dog had died.

Police later recovered the dead animal from a field in Marsaskala. It also emerged that the dog was not originally the victim’s but had belonged to someone else and had been found running loose around two years earlier. She had since been keeping it herself.

Nakov was arrested later that evening and was charged with causing his partner to fear that violence would be used against her, harassment, insults and threats, and several breaches of the Animal Welfare Act, including causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and failing to ensure its proper treatment and welfare. He was also charged with unlawfully killing a domesticated animal outside the parameters permitted by law.

The court was asked to issue a protection order in favour of the alleged victim and, in the event of a conviction, to consider banning the accused from keeping animals and ordering him to pay expenses related to treatment, relocation or confiscation.

No request for bail was made, as the accused has no secure alternative address.

Magistrate Ingrid Bianco presided over the sitting. Legal aid lawyer Mark Anthony Mifsud represented the accused. Inspector Colin Sheldon and Inspector Chantelle Mifsud prosecuted.