Sol Invictus
01-30-2010, 04:10 AM
• Argument between neighbours reported to have led to shooting
• Authorities say it could be country's worst animal cruelty case
Associated Press in Wellington
guardian.co.uk, Friday 29 January 2010 10.37 GMT
Police today seized guns used by two New Zealand men to kill more than 30 dogs owned by a neighbour in what animal welfare authorities said could be the country's worst animal cruelty case.
Inspectors from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it planned to file charges when it finished forensic examination of the dead dogs after the incident near Wellsford, north of Auckland.
Police were looking at firearms' registration and possible charges of reckless discharge of a gun, a spokesman, Kevin Loughlin, said.
Media reports said Russell Mendoza had confronted a neighbour, Rowan Hargreaves, complaining that one of Hargreaves' 39 dogs had killed his fox terrier. Mendoza and another man, armed with a .22 rifle and a shotgun, later returned to Hargreaves' property and shot 33 dogs, including 23 puppies and young dogs.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/29/new-zealand-dogs-shot-dead
• Authorities say it could be country's worst animal cruelty case
Associated Press in Wellington
guardian.co.uk, Friday 29 January 2010 10.37 GMT
Police today seized guns used by two New Zealand men to kill more than 30 dogs owned by a neighbour in what animal welfare authorities said could be the country's worst animal cruelty case.
Inspectors from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it planned to file charges when it finished forensic examination of the dead dogs after the incident near Wellsford, north of Auckland.
Police were looking at firearms' registration and possible charges of reckless discharge of a gun, a spokesman, Kevin Loughlin, said.
Media reports said Russell Mendoza had confronted a neighbour, Rowan Hargreaves, complaining that one of Hargreaves' 39 dogs had killed his fox terrier. Mendoza and another man, armed with a .22 rifle and a shotgun, later returned to Hargreaves' property and shot 33 dogs, including 23 puppies and young dogs.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/29/new-zealand-dogs-shot-dead