SAFE slams sentence after bull left riddled with arrows in ‘depraved’ attack

The men were dealt with in the Porirua District Court yesterday. Photo / NZME

Animal rights organisation SAFE says a judge’s sentence for two men who left a bull alive but riddled with arrows showed “how little regard the justice system has for animals and their wellbeing”.

The two men appeared in the Porirua District Court yesterday where they received permanent name suppression and were discharged without conviction for what Judge Bruce Davidson called “repugnant” offending.

The pair, aged 18 and 22 years old at the time, drove to a rural area near Porirua in the early hours of August 17, 2021, to hunt for feral pigs. They were towing a trailer carrying food scraps to be used as bait to trap the pigs, but had no success.

“As you were driving away you saw a bull and a steer in a paddock. The vehicle in which you were in was stopped. Bolt cutters from inside the vehicle were used to cut into the fence,” Judge Davidson said.

A crossbow was used to fire three arrows at the bull, hitting it in the stomach and shoulder area. Another arrow was fired at the steer, hitting it in the rump area.

“You left, leaving both animals wounded and distressed. The animals were found the next day.”

The bull was alive with three arrows protruding from it, and was “clearly suffering”. The steer survived but was left lame after developing an infection in its wound.

Despite noting the public would consider the offending “repugnant”, Judge Davidson allowed the men to escape conviction or publication of their names, saying they were young and immature and had since made progress in improving their lives. Publication and convictions could interfere with them continuing in the businesses they had each set up.

But SAFE’s campaigns manager Anna de Roo said the offence was cruel and should have carried a conviction.

“This offence was a deliberate, depraved attack on an animal,” said de Roo.

“Aotearoa talks a big game about its animal welfare standards. But this case just shows how little regard the justice system has for animals and their wellbeing.”

The Ministry for Primary Industries, which is the lead enforcement agency for animal welfare on farms, receives thousands of animal welfare complaints every year, yet less than 1 per cent of those complaints lead to prosecution, she said.

“This is not the only case where cruelty to animals has gone unpunished. Even when perpetrators are prosecuted, the penalties are often disturbingly light.

“New Zealand has commissioners to represent the most vulnerable populations in society, including children and the environment. Animals, however, are not represented by an independent voice.

“Cases like this show why a commissioner for animals is urgently needed.”

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice, and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.