A man who was charged with shooting two dogs dead was granted bail by a Gozo court on Tuesday evening.

The man, Raymond Bajada, 51, of Sannat, pleaded not guilty to charges of killing the dogs on a farm in Gozo on Monday. 

Police said in a statement earlier that the suspected shooting of the two fox terriers had taken place on farm at Triq l-Għaxra ta’ Ottubru, 1942. 

Independent candidate Arnold Cassola shared an image of the dogs on his social media pages late on Monday evening. 

During the arraignment in the Gozo court on Tuesday evening, the court was told that one of the dogs had been shot once, while the other was shot twice at around 5.40pm.

Bajada was charged with animal cruelty, among other charges. 

Magistrate Simone Grech upheld the request of the defence for bail against a deposit of €2,000, a personal guarantee of €10,000 and signing the bail book three times weekly. 

Inspector Bernard Charles Spiteri prosecuted.

Franco Debono was defence counsel.