CAIRO, Mar 12 (Aswat Masriya) - Four people accused of involvement in the killing of a domesticated dog appealed on Thursday their three-year prison sentences, a top prosecutor said.

A misdemeanour court of appeals will look into the appeal on Monday, said Mostafa al-Metnawi, head of the Shubra al-Khaima prosecution.

Three of the defendants, sentenced on Wednesday, are in custody, while the dog's owner was tried in absentia. 

They all faced charges of public "use of force and violence... by killing a domesticated animal, a dog, after restricting its movement." 

They were also accused of possessing without legal reason bladed weapons used to assault individuals. 

The dog's killing was caught on a video that went viral on social media last month, sparking uproar and prompting a few dozen to organise a demonstration in Cairo. 

The video shows three men beating and eventually killing a dog strapped to a light pole with knives. 

The three defendants in custody admitted to prosecutors that they had killed the dog, accusing the dog's owner of using it to commit crimes of theft.

They said the dog's owner attempted to steal a shop belonging to one of them, adding that the dog bit another defendant who attempted to stop the theft. 

The dog's owner and a friend of his, who are at large, were sentenced to 15 years in absentia last week for theft.

Egypt's Penal Code states that the punishment for killing a domesticated animal or "gravely harming it" is imprisonment for up to a year or a fine of no more than 200 Egyptian pounds.