Iranian man who killed dog sentenced to 74 lashes

Tehran: An Iranian man has been sentenced to 74 lashes for killing a dog, the judiciary-linked Mizan news agency reported Wednesday, after an online video showed him hurling the animal repeatedly against his car.

The man was arrested earlier this year in the northwestern province of Ardebil following a complaint by the local head of the society for the protection of the environment.

A video went viral on social networks showing the man hurling the dog against his car and then beating him to death with a shovel.

The court also ordered the man to take weekly lessons for a year on how to care for animals, Mizan reported. It said the man was apparently the dog`s owner but did not say why he killed it.

It was the latest in several recent cases of animal abuse in Iran that were brought to light by online videos.

Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, who also heads the Environmental Protection Organisation of Iran, has frequently denounced the ill-treatment of animals.

In April last year she called for an investigation after a short film showing several stray dogs being brutally killed went viral prompting protests outside her office.