Animal cruelty charges dropped in sheep mutilation case

Animal cruelty charge against three teenagers accused of mutilating and killing a sheep at Mt Maunganui have been dropped because police cannot prove how the animal was killed.

Blake John Kerridge, Mitchell Anthony Herbert and Matthew Ludolph, all 17 and from Auckland, were accused of kicking and beating the sheep near the base track of Mt Maunganui on the night of April 19.

They were also accused of blowing off its jaw with fireworks.

Police said at the time there was clear evidence of attempts being made to set the sheep alight. They said its abdomen had been cut open.

Judge Peter Rollo was told in Tauranga District Court yesterday that police were no longer pursuing the animal cruelty charges, The Bay of Plenty Times reported.

Acting Sergeant Craig Madden said the sheep carcass had been disposed of and the opportunity to conduct a post-mortem to confirm the cause of death was lost.

The trio still faces charges of disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence to occur and unlawful possession of explosives, namely fireworks which are set down for hearing in June 18.

The story shocked animal lovers nationwide and Tauranga SPCA described the attack as one of the worst cases of animal cruelty it had seen.

Defence lawyer Glenn Dixon told the court there had been significant adverse publicity since his clients were arrested.

One of them had received more than 1000 abusive and threatening text messages.

Outside court, he said he was thrilled for his clients, who had always maintained that the sheep was dead with its stomach ripped open when they found it.

- NZPA