DAR ES SALAAM - Tanzanian authorities will investigate a controversial ruling by a local magistrate who sentenced a dog to death because its owner had named it after a government department, the Daily Mail said Tuesday.

The privately-owned newspaper said a powerful defense and security council committee in Rukwa, western Tanzania, will investigate the death of the dog "Immigration."

Magistrate Onesmo Zunda ordered the one-year-old mongrel to be hanged, ruling that its name was insulting to the government department concerned. The dog was later reported to have been shot by police after an appeal was rejected.

"It has become a disgrace to the region and the nation," the newspaper quoted senior regional officials as saying. "It has become of international interest with people asking questions from as far away as Britain and South Africa."

Magistrate defends dog execution order

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - A Tanzanian magistrate who sentenced a dog to die because of its name has defended his decision, Tanzania's privately-owned Guardian newspaper reported.

Kasanga primary court magistrate, Onesmo Zunda, said he sentenced the dog named "Immigration" to death to avoid a breach of the peace, the Guardian said.

Newspapers reported that the 1-year-old mongrel had been shot by police last Friday after an appeal was rejected.

The case attracted attention from animal rights groups who argued the dog had no control over its name -- said to have scandalized a respected government department -- and was thus the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

"Mr Zunda said that in order to avoid a breach of the peace in the village, he had decided to concur with the owner of the dog that it should be killed...," the newspaper said adding that the owner was given a six-month suspended sentence.

Zunda was unable to cite the law which allowed him to hand down a capital sentence on a dog, the newspaper said.

Prosecutors told the court last month that the owner, John Kachela, had mischievously given the dog the name of a highly respected government department and compounded the crime by going to the department on a daily basis and boasting of its name.

Kasanga village lies in Rukwa region in Tanzania's remote south west.

- Reuters