PET dog Jack was beaten, strangled and then burnt, with his charred body being discovered on woodland in March 2002.
Houghton-le-Spring Magistrates' Court heard that Wayne Pearce, 37, had attacked the dog after it nipped him on his leg as he argued with his teenage daughter.
Pearce, from Washington, Wearside, admitted striking the dog repeatedly with a stick, but denied burning or strangling it.
After admitting causing unnecessary suffering to Jack at a court appearance in May last year, he was sentenced to six months jail, later reduced to three on appeal, and banned from keeping animals for life.
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