An attack in which three men blew a sheep's jaw off with fireworks and attempted to set it on fire had to be one of the worst animal cruelty cases, the Tauranga SPCA says.
The trio was seen kicking what a member of the public initially thought was a person, on the base track of The Mount around 10:30pm yesterday, Acting Senior Sergeant Craig Madden, of Mount Maunganui police said.
"When attended by police they discovered it was a sheep and it appeared to have suffered a very violent death," Mr Madden said.
"It appeared that fireworks had been placed in the mouth of the animal, which blew off its lower jaw."
It also had an open stomach wound and attempts had been made to set it on fire.
Tauranga SPCA manager John Esdaile urged people to give the offenders up, saying the "next step" for people involved in this kind behaviour was offending against humans.
"This sort of offending never just stops with animals, that's where it starts," he told Radio New Zealand.
"These people are the sexual offenders and predators of the future and if the people out there know something about this... then they need to either get in touch with the police or the SPCA."
The incident was on a par with another in the region last year in which a cat was found nailed to a street sign.
Its tail and three paws were severed - injuries believed to have been inflicted while it was still alive - and the fourth paw was hanging by a thread of skin. A 14-year-old boy was charged with wilful ill-treatment of an animal following a plea to the public for information on the incident.
With no description available of t he men involved in last night's attack, Mr Esdaile said he hoped the public would "come through" for them again.
"At this stage all we can do is wait until the public contact us. There is very little pro-active work we can do, there's nothing really for us to go on."
Police cordoned off the area and used a dog to try to find the offenders but were unsuccessful.
They said forensic examination of several items recovered might identify the animal's attackers .
Police also planned to speak with the people who reported the incident again and asked anyone else who had witnessed the attack to come forward.
"This was a cowardly, despicable act and police are seeking any information from the public to identify these culprits," Mr Madden said.
The attack follows the mauling last week of an elderly dog by two pitbulls.
Lincoln, a 14-year-old ridgeback cross, was attacked by the pit bulls that had been set on to him in Porirua after he was earlier stolen from his Titahi Bay home.
It appeared Lincoln had been taken to be used as a bait dog.
NZPA
source: newshub archive
