Police Investigate Mass Dog Slaughter

[Wajoma's Aussies]

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/polic...0-1225824901758

<h1 class="heading">Police investigate mass dog slaughter </h1> ANIMAL cruelty officers broke down in tears while describing the scene of a slaughter of more than 30 dogs after a neighborhood dispute turned violent in New Zealand.

The Times of London reported today that police were investigating the incident, in which 10 adult dogs and 23 puppies and very young dogs were shot dead by two men in a scene described by an animal cruelty investigator as "not unlike a massacre."

Russell Mendoza was alleged to have confronted his neighbour, Rowan Hargreaves, complaining that one of Hargreaves’ 39 dogs killed his fox terrier.

It was reported that Mendoza then forced his neighbour to sign a letter agreeing to the shooting of his animals as a result.

Mendoza and another man, armed with a .22 rifle and a shotgun, later returned to Hargreaves’ property in a rural area west of Auckland and shot the dogs in just over 20 minutes.

Eight dogs survived, including four thee-day-old puppies that sheltered under an adult dog that was killed.

Inspectors from New Zealand’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said the organisation planned to file charges over the killings when forensic examination of the dead dogs was completed.

"I've never seen anything as horrible as this in my life and I cannot begin to imagine the terror these animals were faced with," Sascha Keltie, an SPCA investigator, said.

"It was a haunting scene of death and destruction and I struggle to comprehend what took place there."

Bob Kerridge, the executive director of the SPCA, said the animals would have known what was going on and some would have cowered in fear as others around them died.

He said the case was among the worst his staff had ever seen.

It was reported that the alleged gunman Mendoza runs a nearby pet shop.

He would not comment on the matter yesterday but is believed to be preparing a statement through his lawyer.

SPCA inspectors, who are government appointees, are empowered to file animal cruelty charges under New Zealand law.

The men could face up to three years in prison.

Police could also press charges because one of the gunmen did not have a firearm licence.

[MelissaS]

OMG!!!!!!

Too horrible for words.

[Parkeyre]

Read about this earlier.. Pretty disgusting.

[poochmad]

This was posted in the 'In News' folder, where I think it should stay so as to not offend people not wanting to read about it.

Just my two cents.

[Clyde]

Just awful