More youth involved in sadistic animal abuse

A dog that was tied up with flax is now in the care of the SPCA. Picture / Daily Post

A list detailing horrific cases of animal abuse was whittled down because there were too many to include, the SPCA says.

Its annual "list of shame", released yesterday, was longer than last year's - 50 cases compared with 30 - although that did not mean there had been more cases this year, just that the situation was not getting any better, said SPCA national chief executive Robyn McDonald.

"This list gives a picture of a less-than-caring society but that is not how New Zealanders see themselves," she said.

"Some of the cases are just quite abhorrent. Taken together, they provide a troubling, and in many cases, horrifying insight into the mindset of some of our fellow humans."

Fifteen cases of more minor animal abuse or neglect were taken off the list, including a dog left tied up that then ate its own faeces.

This year's list confirmed a disturbing trend, evident from last year, that children and young people were heavily involved in animal abuse.

"What you are looking at is that this is learned behaviour," Ms McDonald said. "This is being tolerated in families. It doesn't just come from nowhere."

Cases included youths who caught live eels from a Christchurch creek, lined them up on a road and played "wheelies" by running over them in a vehicle.

Two Huntly teenagers poured solvent over cats, set them on fire and left them to die. The sergeant prosecuting the case later found his own family cat ripped in half and dumped in the police station carpark.

A Motueka boy attacked a group of week-old calves, causing head injuries to the animals, with one having its eye out of the socket.

Ms McDonald said some of New Zealand's worst criminals, serving life sentences for murder, had early convictions for animal abuse.

For the first time, the SPCA had appointed a national education manager to go into schools in areas where the worst cases were occurring.

The SPCA is encouraging neighbours and other witnesses to report animal abuse just as they would if the abuse involved a child.

"It's not okay for the neighbour to half-kick the dog to death," Ms McDonald said. "Come to us and tell us because we can't do anything if we are not informed." 

List of shame

Wellington: Hole drilled in throat of fox terrier and stuffed with tar. Dog's flesh shaved to the bone and body stored in car boot and freezer.

Rotorua: Group of children kill mother duck and ducklings after throwing them round in a game of "rugby".

Whangarei: Cat dies slow, painful death after being poisoned with radiator coolant.

Huntly: Two teenagers pour solvent over three cats, set them on fire and leave them to die (police sergeant prosecuting case later finds his own family's cat ripped in half and dumped in police station carpark).

Levin: Jack russell dog found by owners in plastic bag, headless and mutilated. Body partly skinned, head bashed in and stomach cut open with intestines pulled out.