SPCA investigates dead puppies, mutilated cat

The SPCA is shocked at the discovery of three dead puppies in a tied up plastic bag on a Mount Maunganui beach.

A member of the public found the 10-week-old mastiff-labrador cross puppies on Mount Main Beach.

The puppies were believed to have been in the water for some time, with the plastic bag tied shut with a bit of blue string.

The SPCA said it was saddened by the find, which came during the end of its annual appeal at the weekend.

Tauranga SPCA manager John Esdaile told the Bay of Plenty Times newspaper he did not know why the owner did not bring the puppies to him.

The puppies were handed in to Mount Maunganui police, where the SPCA picked them up.

Tauranga SPCA and police were still investigating the death of a cat found strung from a road sign in Tauranga on October 28.

It had had three legs chopped off and a fourth left hanging by its skin. Its tail had also been cut off and a nail driven through its head.

- NZPA