LIST OF SHAME

 (January- September 2007) 

January 

v      Four small children in Lower Hutt are seen repeatedly throwing two kittens into a swimming pool. One of the kittens is subsequently observed being bounced vigorously on a trampoline and thrown to the ground. Both kittens are yowling with distress 

v      Two Kaikohe kittens are hurled across a lawn onto a driveway.  One of the kittens is killed. The other survives with injuries, including brain damage 

v      On a hot day on Kerata Hill, near Coromandel, a mother cat and four kittens are found taped-up in a box. They are dehydrated and starving 

v      Auckland SPCA finds 40 battery hens crammed into cardboard boxes in the boot of a car parked in Otahuhu.  The chickens have been in the boot for about thirty minutes in intense heat. Six of them are dead  

v      Three neglected king charles spaniels are found on a property near Motueka. The dogs have infected ears, pus-filled eyes and coats matted and covered with faeces 

v      Intruders break into a property at Waiau in North Canterbury and slaughter a sheep.  The animal’s stomach is slit open and its carcass hurled into a swimming pool. Reports suggest that the sheep was still alive when thrown into the water and the pool cover pulled over it 

February 

v      In Auckland, the SPCA discovers 39 crayfish in a restaurant display tank in water approximately 20 times more toxic than acceptable  

v      In North Taranaki, the SPCA finds an emaciated cow, worm infested and half the normal weight for its age 

v      Five dogs are discovered living in darkened sheds in Waiau Pa, to the south of Auckland. The dogs have urine-scalded feet caused by a pungent build-up of their own faeces and urine 

v      A Havelock North cat loses a leg after being shot at close range with an airgun. Four other local cats are reported missing or dead, prompting a police hunt for a cat killer  

v      A cat from Kopuaranga near Masterton requires a leg amputation after sustaining wounds consistent with imprisonment in a gin trap 

March 

v      SPCA inspectors discover 161 neglected cats and 81neglected dogs on a property near Dannevirke. Many of the animals are in small, faeces-covered cages, situated in dark and airless ramshackle sheds. A large percentage of the cats are suffering from feline Chlamydia, feline AIDS, respiratory diseases, ringworm, emaciation and/or dehydration 

v      More than 30 ducks, pukeko, swans, geese and other birds are found dead and another 50 severely sick, after grain laced with poison is left in the Western Springs Reserve near Auckland Zoo    

v      A goat from Owhango in the Central North Island, is stabbed to death whilst grazing at the side of the road 

v      In Taupo, Police and the SPCA rescue a chihuahua, locked inside a vehicle. The dog is dehydrated and distressed after being left in direct sunlight at a temperature of 23 degrees Celsius 

v      The SPCA finds fifteen caged rats, dead from starvation in an abandoned Dunedin flat. Six more rats are discovered alive but in an emaciated condition on the same property.  Five abandoned cats and a kitten are also found  

v      A severely neglected cocker spaniel is discovered on a property in the east of Auckland. The dog is maggot-infested, has a ruptured eardrum and faeces-encrusted fur 

v      In two separate incidents in Whangarei, a kitten and a puppy are reported thrown out of the windows of moving vehicles 

April 

v      In Christchurch, the SPCA finds a dog lying in faeces in a small cage. The poodle-cross appears to have been imprisoned in the cage for several months, without access to sunlight or fresh air. The dog’s fur is so badly matted that it is cutting into its skin 

v      Two one-day-old puppies are found dumped in a flooded rubbish bin in Upper Hutt.  They have avoided drowning thanks to a shoe box floating inside the bin 

v      A Whangarei dog is discovered in an emaciated condition. The pitbull-type dog is suffering from a severe skin condition, total body hair-loss and multiple open ulcerated wounds possibly from dog fighting.  An SPCA inspector describes the animal as “barely recognisable as a dog”  

v      In Te Kuiti, a severely emaciated dog is found lying in the road. A corncob is found  jammed in the dog’s intestines, apparently a result of desperate foraging 

May 

v      Fifteen chickens and a number of other birds are found poisoned at a roadside rest area near Kerikeri  

v      A Christchurch dog is found with a front leg wrapped in a towel and tied up in a sling.  The rhodesian ridgeback has severe muscle wastage and deep, open and infected wounds, along with a fused elbow joint, resulting from prolonged use of the sling. The dog had been hit by a car up to eighteen months previously and the owners had not sought veterinary assistance.     

v      In Whangarei, the SPCA discovers three rabbits in wasted condition and without access to food or water. Their hutch is eight centimetres deep in faeces   

v      Two extremely emaciated puppies are found in a cage at the rear of a property in Ngawha Springs in Northland. One of the puppies is dead. A number of other emaciated dogs are also found on the property 

June 

v      A litter of newborn puppies and an eight-week-old kitten are found pickled in four large jars discovered in a Dunedin flat. The couple responsible admits to having drowned  the animals prior to pickling them, some time previously 

v      A Southland man beats eight puppies to death with a tyre brace and throws their remains into a river 

v      At Flat Bush, in South Auckland, a dog is found, hanged on a gum tree. The mastiff-cross is extremely skinny and covered in sores.  Scratch marks on the tree suggest the dog has put up a struggle before dying 

v      A cat from Brightwater near Nelson is permanently blinded by a slug-gun pellet. Three months later, the cat still requires tube-feeding   

v      A kitten with ear-tips cut off is discovered cowering beneath a house in Masterton 

v      At Taheke in Northland, 17 cattle are found in a dehydrated condition. The herd takes just one hour to drink a thousand litres of water  

v      A hedgehog from near Raglan is discovered with its mouth bound shut by a rubber ring  of a type used to dock lambs’ tails 

v      Three cats are discovered dead in a house in Panmure.  They have been shut in there on their own for several weeks without food or water.  One of the cats is locked in a carry cage. A putrid smell helped alert neighbours 

July 

v      In Blenheim, youths pour petrol over the rear half of a pig before setting fire to the animal 

v      SPCA inspectors find thousands of dead and starving sheep on a Central Otago farm  

v      A Rotorua cat is discovered with no ears and with a face half rotted away by cancer.   When the cat’s mouth is shut, the tongue’s movements are still visible  

v      Around twenty pigeons and other birds are poisoned close to Dunedin’s city centre. Some of the birds die from the poisoning, others are hit repeatedly by passing traffic 

v      Two dogs, one dead and the other severely wounded, are found tied to a tree near Kawerau. The dead dog has been shot through the head and the other has been kicked in the throat, sustaining a broken jaw and badly-damaged larynx   

August  

v      The SPCA discovers a cow with advanced eye cancer on a property near Whangarei.  The cancer has spread to the cow’s face, approximately one-third of which is missing  

v      Nine puppies are found tied up in plastic bags and dumped in a rubbish bin outside the Gisborne District Court building.  There are signs they were immersed in water before being dumped.  Five of the puppies are dead 

v      Crossbow bolts are sighted embedded in the bodies of five ducks on Lake Horowhenua near Levin 

v      The bodies of two dogs are found in a South Auckland park. Both pitbull crosses have extensive injuries, consistent with organised dog-fighting 

v      Thousands of birds are left dead, flightless or dying, following an orchardist fire-bombing a Wairarapa starling roost. Hundreds of birds die over the following weeks.

v      In Nelson, a cat is discovered in a 44 gallon drum of used oil. The cat is saturated  and has swallowed a great deal of the oil 

September 

v      A poultry company is fined and its owner disqualified from owning birds for ten years, after a Wellington court hears evidence of hens kept in conditions of extreme neglect.  Hens were left to die with their heads stuck through cage bars and faeces were up to a metre deep in some cages 

v      A Northland horse-trekking facility is found to have approximately 48 horses on just 27 acres of poor quality land. Many of the horses are emaciated and three require immediate euthanasia  

v      Bits of shattered bullet are found lodged in the nose and jaw-line of a dog from Pakipaki, near Hastings  

v      An air gun pellet is discovered in the throat of a Rotorua cat that is being neutered