Charges due this week over 7 dogs killed in massacre

Rowan Hargreaves discovered a few puppies still alive after the alleged massacre. Photo / Natalie Slade

Charges are likely to be laid this week over the alleged massacre of 33 dogs in Wellsford.

But only seven of the January killings will be prosecuted - because the Animal Welfare Act dictates that charges can only be laid in relation to animals that suffered.

SPCA chief executive Bob Kerridge was reported as saying on the Stuff website: "There are seven that the autopsy have reported a considerable deal of suffering."

But he said there could be two or three different charges for each of the seven animals.

Twenty-three puppies and 10 adult dogs were shot in what the SPCA called a "frenzied attack" on a property near Wellsford on January 25.

Animal welfare inspectors exhumed the bodies of three of the dogs. The SPCA said at the time there was a possibility that some of the dogs were first shot but not killed.

Mr Kerridge said some of the dogs were peppered with shotgun pellets, possibly from some distance, and may have been finished off with a .22-calibre rifle as they lay wounded.

The exhumation of the three dogs gave the SPCA a total of 13 bodies.

Police said some were maimed first in the "bloody, rifle-killing frenzy" before being "finished off".

The two men accused of shooting the dogs were at the time identified as Russell Mendoza and truck driver Tony "Tussock" Campbell.

The incident was allegedly sparked when Mr Mendoza's fox terrier Otis was killed by a dog, alleged to belong to Rowan Hargreaves.

When approached about the allegation Mr Hargreaves said he agreed to have his 10 adult dogs put down. But he said he did not agree to 23 puppies also being killed nor did he approve of the way in which they were killed. He and friend Richard Hawkings say the dogs were indiscriminately gunned down.

But in a statement previously issued by his lawyer, Mr Mendoza said he shot only one dog. The statement said Mr Mendoza was handed a gun by Richard Hawkings.

"He used this to shoot a dog at point-blank range under the supervision of the [firearms] licence holder."

Mr Kerridge was reported as saying yesterday: "The charges are being considered at the moment."

- APN