Luna, the Labrador. Credit:WA Police "They saw this person and [ran over]. Within a split second Luna was on the floor but I thought she was submitting, wanting to play. He bent down, I thought he was getting his dog." Ms Millen jogged towards the man to say hello and to check her dog had not bothered him, but he walked away fast as her male dog began to bark at him. She began to think something was wrong. "I followed the man a bit to ... ask if we could talk," she said. "He was just mumbling, I couldn't understand and I couldn't see his face. I thought it was really strange, I didn't want to push. So I just grabbed my dog. He picked his dog up and he jumped the fence.

"I picked my dog up and I went to find Luna who I thought would have been just sniffing around somewhere. "I got to her and there was blood all over her." 6PR reporter Michael Stamp said Rowan's lawyer had reported a different set of circumstances described by Ms Millen. "Rowan was walking his own dog, a seven-month-old staffy cross, and the two Labradors of the owners began to circle him," Mr Stamp said. "He believed there was a perceived threat so he took a pocket knife from his pocket and stabbed it. He wanted to deter the dogs.

"His lawyer Michael Tudori said the injury was unfortunately a life-threatening wound which he did not mean to do, and said he was totally remorseful. [He said the act] had been out-of-character, and Rowan was actually an animal lover." "Chief magistrate [Steven Heath] said he understood Mr Rowan was an animal lover but it was an error having the knife. He said there were other ways to fend off this dog, and there was an overreaction and it wasn't a case of prolonged torture for the dog- as the dog died immediately." Animal activists and protesters attended the sentencing, and jeered Rowan- calling him a "murderer" and a "maggot". An activist known only as Debbie sat in on the sentencing, and told 6PR the outcome was "despicable". "The verdict handed down if it were not suspended, I would have been happy with," she said.

"But to suspend and no fine, nothing- it's despicable. This man had a knife on him and he used it. If he was defending his dog- it was a puppy, he could have held it in his arms- I mean, kicking her or whatever- but he pulled a knife and murdered a dog. To get off with nothing- that can't happen here in Perth." RSPCA WA chief executive officer David van Ooran said the Perth community had reacted strongly to the attack. "We heard from so many people in the aftermath of Luna's stabbing, who all expressed outrage at this senseless cruel act," he said. "While we need to respect the court's decision, this horrible case has highlighted just how much the community finds cruelty towards animals totally unacceptable." The attack also sparked a petition to amend the WA Animal Welfare Act 2002 in order to enforce stricter penalties for those found guilty of animal abuse.

"Currently Luna's offender is on bail for not only killing an animal, but carrying a dangerous weapon and in line with the current law of the Animal Welfare Act 2002, if convicted is likely to face no more than a monetary fine and if deemed appropriate up to 5 years - maximum - in prison," petition organiser Charlotte Armstrong said. Loading "Current penalties do not match the severity of these crimes and are not considered tough enough to deter animal cruelty and in particular, killing without owner's consent." The petition has collected nearly 20,000 signatures.