Family devastated after pet dog shot

A devastated family say they have been robbed of one of their own after their "harmless" pet dog was shot and killed.

The Carbon family's beloved 7-year-old cocker spaniel Pogi, described as predominantly an indoors dog, was shot after wandering on to a neighbouring property in Christchurch in January.

Althea Carbon, who lives with her parents, said Pogi was outside with her father and did not follow him back inside as he normally would have. The family began searching and calling for Pogi, who rarely went far afield.

"I heard the shot, and I heard Pogi whimpering. He came on to our driveway and he collapsed and he was bleeding in the mouth. We went immediately to the vet, it was only about a minute's drive or something. When we got there the nurse said he had died."

It is understood that the shot, fired from an air rifle, severed a main artery.

"It's disgusting. It's inconceivable that someone had that rifle and used it to shoot my dog. It wasn't until the vet confirmed it was a bullet that hit Pogi [that we believed it]."

Pogi was a member of the family, Miss Carbon said.

"He's part of our daily routine. It's so hard. After three days, we got a new puppy, just because it's so hard to have that gap in the family. Pogi is such a gentle dog. He's scared of everything, he's scared of cats."

Her parents were planning to sell the family home of eight years because of the event. "For the first few weeks we felt really unsafe in the house. I was really paranoid."

Henrietta Tania Campbell, 46, appeared in the Christchurch District Court yesterday and is defending charges of cruelty to an animal and discharging an air rifle near a dwelling. The case will be heard in June.

The case comes as two men who shot 33 dogs near Wellsford in January face firearms charges as well as animal cruelty charges laid by the SPCA.

One of the men, a 47-year-old, was also charged with possession of a firearm without a licence. Both are due to appear in the Warkworth District Court in May.