A 43-year-old tradie who knowingly deceived Australia for ten days while his dog lay dead in a ute has fronted court.
A Queensland man who orchestrated a nationwide manhunt for “thieves who stole” his dog has admitted the campaign was nothing more than a lie that masked a drunken night that left his German Shepherd to die alone in a locked vehicle.
Nathan Paul McKeown, 43, broke down as he stood before Cleveland Magistrates Court on Thursday as details emerged about the final days of his dog Arnie, who was confined inside a ute in inner Brisbane for ten days without food, water or ventilation.
The grim revelations came after Mr McKeown and his family were the public face of a heartfelt appeal that gripped the country, with Aussies sharing posts, donating time and slamming the alleged thieves who had “stolen” the dog.
In reality, the court heard, no theft had occurred.
Nathan McKeown, 43, broke down in tears while facing a court on Thursday. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard
Mr McKeown had not been the victim of a car theft at all. Instead, he had been so intoxicated he forgot where he parked his black Toyota Hilux – and was too ashamed to admit the truth because of his dealings with a sex worker that night.
Despite knowing this, he continued to tell his wife, police and the media that the ute – and Arnie – had been taken, even offering a $6000 reward for his return.
For days, Mr McKeown pushed the narrative that Arnie had been kidnapped by car thieves while sleeping in the back of his ute outside a friend’s home in Wynnum.
The tradie faced media alongside his wife, telling the country he was “distraught” and “hadn’t been sleeping well at night” since his dog’s disappearance.
Magistrate Deborah Vasta said the lie began as an attempt to conceal his behaviour and quickly spiralled out of control.
Notably absent from court was the 43-year-old’s wife and mother of his child, despite his parents flying in from the UK to support their son.
Aussies rallied together to find Arnie
Millions of good-faithed Aussies accepted the call to find Arnie, unaware of the vile lie they were being told.
A stranger and fellow German Shepherd owner, Emily Mitchell helped lead the hunt for Arnie, creating the ‘Arnie Lost Dog Facebook’ page which was inundated with 10 millions views within days.
The Australian public rallied together to help find Arnie, offering their time and support. Picture: Facebook
“I think I was at work when I heard on the radio about a lost German shepherd in Brisbane that pulled a heart string having one myself,” Ms Mitchell told A Current Affair at the time.
“I reached out to the owner to say ‘So sorry this has happened.’”
“We were at 10 million views in seven or eight days. It was amazing and heartwarming.”
She said people offered the use of their drones to help locate the missing dog and their time to print out and distribute flyers.
She was in contact with Mr McKeown during the frantic search, relaying the most useful tips and messages from people who reached out to her Facebook page.
Timeline of Arnie’s disappearance
The sequence of events began about 2:30pm on November 7, when Mr McKeown finished work and placed Arnie in the back of his ute, which was fitted with an enclosed canopy.
From there, he drove across Brisbane, stopping at a bottle shop before drinking at multiple venues around Manly.
CCTV footage showed Mr McKeown repeatedly leaving Arnie locked in the vehicle while he entered pubs and continued consuming alcohol.
After arguing with a family member, Mr McKeown drove through the CBD while drinking and taking drugs, before eventually parking on Amelia Street in Fortitude Valley around 10:45pm.
The eight-year-old pup was left inside a ute for ten days. Picture: Facebook
Footage later captured him briefly removing Arnie from the vehicle before locking him back inside and stumbling away.
Mr McKeown then travelled to a brothel several kilometres away, where staff later described him as heavily intoxicated.
Staff eventually refused to deal with Mr McKeown when he returned between 3am and 3:30am.
He never went back to his ute.
By the next morning, Mr McKeown could not remember where he had parked his car and doubled down on the narrative that it had been stolen – a claim his wife believed and reported to police.
The false story quickly gained traction online, with strangers volunteering to search Brisbane streets for the eight-year-old dog.
Ten days later, a member of the public reported a “strong odour” coming from a parked ute in Fortitude Valley and Arnie’s body was discovered inside.
A post-mortem revealed Arnie died from dehydration and heat stress.
Mr McKeown was first charged with breaching his duty of care to an animal, before the charges were upgraded to injuring animals (causing injury or death) under the Criminal Code.
It was later discovered that McKeown had locked Arnie inside the ute before stumbling off to bars and brothels. Picture: Facebook
The unemployed tradie has avoided a conviction. Picture: Facebook
He also faced multiple traffic-related offences, including three counts of driving without a valid license, driving under the influence and serious obstruct police.
He pleaded guilty to all charges.
Defence lawyer Patrick Quinn told the court Mr McKeown had loved Arnie since the dog was a puppy and had not intended to kill him.
Mr Quinn said his client was now undergoing alcohol rehabilitation and accepted full responsibility for lying.
“He wanted to sincerely thank the police and the community for their extensive search for Arnie,” Mr Quinn said.
Magistrate Vasta noted Mr McKeown had no prior criminal record but said the consequences of his actions had been severe, including losing his job and the trust of his family.
“Australian people really don’t like people who lie and the public were quite rightly betrayed and manipulated and used by you. For nine days they were out looking for your dog,” she said.
She also acknowledged intense backlash directed at Mr McKeown since the case became widespread.
“What has occurred is that there are some people out there who have used your stupid and terrible mistake as justification for some really intensive hatred.”
Mr McKeown has been sentenced to 240 hours of community service, with no convictions record, and was disqualified from driving for just eight months.