The SPCA is is preparing a case against a person believed to have cut off an eight-week-old Tauranga puppy's ears with a pair of scissors.

The potential refurbishment of the St James Theatre has received a boost from Auckland Mayor Len Brown.

Auckland's SPCA is gearing up to receive more than 1000 animals that will arrive over the busy Christmas/New Year season.

A mother dog howled all night after she fished her six dead puppies out of an estuary after they had been dumped in a shopping bag.

The family who adopted Trooper - the puppy that was rescued after being found outside the Gate Pa shops, in Tauranga, with its ears chopped off - say he is settling in to his new home very well.

The pit bull puppy found in a Tauranga shopping area with his ears chopped off will head to a loving new home today.

Tauranga residents are concerned they are dealing with a serial animal abuser after a kitten was violently thrown against a door and killed this morning - the third horrific act of animal cruelty in the city in a month.

Animal protection inspectors are closing in on offenders responsible for cutting off the ears of an eight-week-old pitbull puppy.