A DOG kicked by its brutal owner so hard that he suffered internal bleeding is looking for a new home.

Staffordshire Bull Terrier Mace was sent flying through the air after Hannah Bennett, 35, attacked him outside the Spar shop in Dorchester Road, Wool on May 30.

But despite his ordeal, the 10-year-old dog is back to his best and needs a new owner to love and look after him.

Lizzie Redford, an animal care assistant at the RSPCA’s Ashley Heath Animal Centre near Ringwood, said Mace needs a “quiet home where he can potter around”.

“He is quite a character and very popular here,” she said.

“He’s a lovely boy but he’s going to need the right owners.

“He gets quite overexcited when meeting new people and his new owners will need to continue the work we’ve done here to calm him down.”

She said Mace appears to get on well with other dogs, but needs to be the only dog in the house.

“He’s got a little girlfriend here, a Jack Russell called Sally,” she said.

“They really love wandering around together on walks. But because he has always lived as the only dog before, we feel that should continue in his new home.”

Mace will also need to go to a home where he is not left alone for long.

Lizzie said: “He has age-related arthritis which he needs anti-inflammatory medication for, and the owner will need to continue him on that, but he’s perfectly capable of getting around by himself.

“He doesn’t need long walks and is very happy to plod around the block. He’s a very friendly old chap and we’re hoping to find him a lovely new home.”

Bennett, of Arras Road, Bovington, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and failing to protect an animal from unnecessary suffering.

She was handed a two-week suspended prison sentence and banned from keeping animals for five years after telling magistrates that she couldn’t remember the incident as she was too drunk.