Mutilated pet's body in plastic bag

The headless, partly skinned body of a dog was found inside a plastic bag by its Levin owners after the man who had looked after the dog while they were away said he had to put it down.

A distressed Jude and Dennis Harding said they could not understand what had caused the man they considered a friend for 30 years to kill their pet, Peppy.

Mrs Harding said after they returned to their Waitarere Beach home they went to get their 7-year-old jack russell from the man, who told them he had had to put the dog down because it had become vicious. Mrs Harding later found the mutilated body of the dog in a plastic bag in the man's backyard.

- NZPA