Survivor Of Massacre Nearly Loses Life Again

[RottnBullies]

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By Alanah May Eriksen 4:00 AM Tuesday Jul 27, 2010

The owner of the only pup to survive a massacre of more than 30 dogs believes it has been the victim of a poisoning attempt.

In January, Chicken was only a few days old and sleeping in an old van with her mother, father and three siblings in Wellsford, north of Auckland, when her parents - and more than 25 other dogs - were shot.

The other pups escaped the gunfire but later died because they were so young and without their mother.

Chicken was the only survivor.

The shootings, on Rowan Hargreaves' 5ha property, stemmed from an argument between the mechanic and his neighbour Russell Mendoza.

Mendoza believed Mr Hargreaves' dogs had mauled and killed his fox terrier Otis.

He and another man, Tony Campbell, allegedly used a shotgun and a .22 calibre rifle on the animals. They both face animal cruelty charges.

This week, Mr Hargreaves has laid a complaint with the police after noticing Chicken and two other dogs he has been given drooling and unable to stand up on Sunday morning.

The trio had walked to the top of his long driveway, where Mr Hargreaves believes pieces of meat with slug bait in them had been thrown over a fence.

He said that when they came back down the driveway, they started "acting funny" and he rushed them to the Wellsford Vet Clinic.

Vets there told him the dogs' symptoms were consistent with poisoning.

"They were all wobbly. It was like they were drunk or something," Mr Hargreaves said. "They were not themselves, not my dogs."

The animals were given medicine to clean out their livers and sent home, where yesterday they appeared to have recovered.

"They were fit and healthy dogs to start with and it was low-grade poison.

"Luckily we caught it soon but I'm just keeping an eye on them because you never know."

The vet yesterday refused to comment on the incident.

Mr Hargreaves said he did not lay any kind of bait around his home because the "dogs take care of the rats", and there was no way they could have escaped from his property to eat it elsewhere.

He spoke to his neighbour, a farmer who was up early for milking, when he came back from the vet. The neighbour said he had seen the tail-lights of a car driving away from the Hargreaves property about 4.20am.

The feud has divided Wellsford, and Mr Hargreaves and his colleague Richard Hawkings, who witnessed the shootings, have received death threats.

Mendoza and Campbell are charged with wilful ill-treatment of an animal, and other charges of ill-treatment of an animal laid by the SPCA, which said seven of the dogs died a slow and painful death.

They also face charges of reckless use of a firearm, an offence which carries penalties of up to three years in prison, a $4000 fine or both.

Mendoza faces a charge of possession of a firearm without a licence, for which the maximum penalty is three months' imprisonment, a $1000 fine or both.

The pair are defending the charges and are due in the Auckland District Court in September.

Edited August 17, 2010 by RottnBullies

[poodlefan]

Survivor of massacre still has the same owner.

That's the dog's real problem IMO.

[yarracully]

Poodlefan I think you have misread the quote. The dogs owner is not the person that committed the massacre. It was the neighbour and an accomplice who is alleged to have previously killed the other dogs and are facing charges. I recall this matter and its media coverage well.