A woman has been charged after allegedly throwing a pet dog off a cliff south of Sydney.
NSW police said they first learnt of the incident when a bush walker contacted them in January last year.
The man was walking near Clive Bissell Drive at Mount Ousley near Wollongong when he heard a dog yelping.
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After searching the area found a kennel upside-down at the base of an escarpment.
Police said officers from Wollongong, along with Police Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit and the SES, conducted a rescue mission to retrieve the dog.
A male Australian Bulldog was found injured and emaciated inside the kennel.
The dog was taken to a local vet, but was euthanized due to his poor health and injuries sustained in the fall.
Police alleged the kennel had been thrown off the cliff the night before it was found by the bush walker.
The kennel was seized by police and underwent forensic examination.
“Following an extensive investigation, a 32-year-old woman was arrested at a home in Horsley about 11am (on Friday),” police said.
The woman was taken to Wollongong Police Station where she was charged with torture, including beating, and cause death of an animal.
She was given bail and is due to appear at Wollongong Local Court on May 14.