KEY POINTS:
A south Taranaki family is shocked by a brutal attack on their pet goat Mordecai.
On Saturday night the goat was held down, while one of its horns was hacked off with an axe.
Mordecai was found bloodied and dazed by owner Michelle Trethewey tethered outside their home on Auroa Rd, near Kaponga, early on Sunday morning, the Taranaki Daily News reported today.
Neighbours had held a big party on Saturday night, Mrs Trethewey said.
"At first I thought he had been scared and gone under the bush, got caught and lost the horn - then I saw the bloody axe lying beside him," Mrs Trethewey said.
The family was disgusted and suspected partygoers were the perpetrators of the assault.
Police questioned a neighbour, who said they had no knowledge of the incident.
South Taranaki SPCA president Jane Lawrence said ripping or cutting a goat's horn off would be excruciating for the animal.
"To do something that mindless is cruelty, it really is," Mrs Lawrence said.
- NZPA
