v At Kamo near Whangarei, a farm worker beats to death a calf that has kicked him.

v A cow with severe eye cancer is discovered on a life-style block near Hamilton. The cow has been left without veterinary attention for a long period. Blood is pouring from its eye and down the side of its face.

v An elderly dog, with testicles ruptured by cancer, is abandoned in a picnic area near Whakatane. The Staffordshire bull terrier cross requires humane euthanasing to prevent further suffering.

v A Blenheim cat is shot with a slug gun. The pellet goes right through the cat’s lungs, close to the heart but does not prove fatal.

v In the Auckland suburb of Buckland’s Beach, a cat sustains a leg injury from a gin trap on a neighbour’s property. When questioned by the SPCA, the neighbour says the injury is not his problem. He is prosecuted, fined and ordered to pay costs and reparations.

v In Huntly, the remains are found of a dog that’s been axed to death and then burnt.

v A Whangarei goat is discovered with advanced cancer tumours on its hindquarters. The goat’s condition suggests the cancer has been left untreated for several months.

v A cat from Albany, to the north of Auckland, arrives home with blood pouring from its side. Surgery reveals that the cat has been shot at very close range with a high-powered air rifle.

v A man visits a Lower Hutt veterinary clinic and demands the removal of his dog’s regulatory microchip. When the veterinarian declines to remove it, the owner threatens to shoot the dog and cut the chip out himself. He then violently drags the dog from his car, while kicking and punching it.

v In the course of one single day, Otago SPCA receives eight separate complaints regarding dogs in vehicles suffering heat distress.

v Auckland SPCA discovers a German shepherd crossbreed dog with extensive open sores, arthritis and infections, on an Otara property. Its owner is subsequently charged with failure to secure veterinary attention, fined, ordered to pay nearly $5,000 in costs and banned from owning an animal for five years.

v A dog is located in an emaciated state, chained to its kennel on a Kaikohe property. The chain is tangled so badly that the dog cannot move. The owner’s elderly, disabled mother has been left to look after the dog while its owner is away. The SPCA uplifts the dog, which, with good feeding, doubles its body weight in five weeks.

v A fox terrier is found kept in a small hollowed-out cable hub on a Waitara property. The hub is surrounded by wire, severely restricting the dog’s ability to run around. SPCA investigations reveal that the dog has been kept there for approximately one year, without walks and without access to the house.

v In Paeroa, a three-month-old dog is found cut in half. The dog’s remains have been tied to a wire fence.

v In separate incidents, two Hamilton cats are strangled to death by being tied to a fence with a shoelace.

v A motorist is observed revving up and driving through a clearly visible flock of ducks in Rotorua. Nine of the ducks are killed or maimed. Rotorua SPCA reports that ducks, geese and swans are frequently mown down by motorists near the lakeside, apparently for fun.

v A large number of cats, dogs, ducks and other birds are found kept in cages in filthy conditions at Matakohe in Northland. A severely emaciated horse is found on the same property.

v In Whangarei, the remains of eight pet rabbits are found scattered across their owner’s lawn. Three adult rabbits have been strangled, while five babies have been drowned in their water bottle.

v A kitten is discovered severed in two in a Dunedin cemetery. Half of its body is located in a rubbish bin and the other half on the ground several metres away.

v In Huntly, a dog is knocked over by a motor vehicle and sustains a severely broken leg. The wounded dog is left inside its owner’s house without veterinary attention for more than two days. An SPCA inspector investigating the matter is greeted with abuse by the owner.

v Tauranga SPCA uplifts a severely emaciated dog from a Te Puke property. The mastiff/Labrador cross weighs just 17 kg but should weigh around 35 kg. Nevertheless, it is successfully rehabilitated and fostered-out.

v In Te Kuiti, petrol is poured over a young goat, which is burned alive and left to die.

v 31 starving horses are found on a property to the south of Auckland. At least 26 of the horses need to be humanely euthanased.

v In Kawakawa, three tame mallard ducks are found beaten and stabbed to death, with blood oozing from their wounds. A fourth duck is found hanging in a tree. Three 13-year-old boys are subsequently questioned by police in relation to the incident.

v In Christchurch, a man punches and stomps a small black terrier to death. The man, an overseas student, had been left caring for four dogs by flatmates. He is subsequently fined and sentenced to four months home detention.

v In Hastings, two youths are observed dragging a young lamb down a city centre street by a choker chain. The youths are also seen picking up the lamb, kicking it and throwing it to the ground.

v Auckland SPCA discovers a cat with a dislocated leg in a house in Waiuku. The injury is 14 days old but the owner has not sought veterinary help. The leg is rotated by 180 degrees and bones are sticking through the cat’s skin.

v A cat’s head, torso and limbs are found separated from each other in an Invercargill park. The number ‘666’ is painted in blood on an adjacent wall.

v A female dog and a litter of puppies are found starving on an Eketahuna property. The dog’s condition is described as "simply appalling" by an SPCA inspector, who is threatened with violence by the dogs’ owner.

v A Rotorua cat sustains a dart shot in its back. The ten centimetre-long dart is three-quarters embedded in the cat’s flesh.

v A sheep in the process of being eaten alive with maggots is discovered on a life-style block near Raglan. Half of one of the sheep’s sides has already been consumed by the maggots, which are crawling everywhere.

v Six emaciated puppies are found dumped in a cardboard box in freezing conditions beneath a bridge in Waitara. Three of the five-week-old puppies require euthanasing to prevent suffering but the remaining pups survive and are successfully re-homed.

v A severely emaciated dog is found wandering in Nelson. Aged between six and nine months, the dog should have weighed around 20 kg but actually weighs 9.9 kg. Subsequent investigations show the dog has escaped from a wooden run, where the desperately hungry animal had eaten polystyrene beans from a bean bag.

v A stray emaciated dog is found on a rural road near Christchurch. The Dobermann weighs just 15.9 kg, at least 50% below its optimum weight. The dog’s ribs, lumbar vertebrae and pelvic bones are all visible from a distance and there is no discernable body fat.

v In Upper Hutt, an eight-year-old boy is seen holding his puppy by the scruff and hitting it. The boy is also spotted throwing the puppy against a wall. Wellington SPCA is alerted to the situation by other local children, who say the abuse happens regularly.

v A Christchurch man is seen attaching a bag containing a cat to the exhaust pipe of a running vehicle. The man subsequently admits to killing the cat but says he hadn’t understood his actions were against the law or that the cat would have suffered.

v In Hamilton, a wandering puppy is found with its tail chopped off and bone exposed. The dog is very frightened when approached and unable to sit. However, it is successfully operated on and re-homed.

v A goat dies of exposure on an urban property in New Plymouth. The animal had been left tied up without shelter or water through a weekend of rain, hail and wind. The goat’s owners had been in residence throughout this time.

v Eight guinea pigs are left to starve when a woman vacates her rental property at Momona, near Dunedin. Five of the animals are already dead by the time they are discovered.

v A cat with advanced cancer of the nose and a large portion of its face missing is discovered on a Whangarei property.

v Tauranga SPCA discovers 32 cats and seven dogs hoarded on a Te Puke property. Faeces are piled up 300 mm thick at the doors and the rescuers have to force their way in.

v A cat with a metal arrow right through its body is found cowering in a Hamilton garage. The arrow has caused huge internal damage and the cat needs euthanasing to prevent further suffering.

v Around 30 emaciated cattle are located on an Inglewood property. Some of the cattle are already dead and others are dying. There is no hard feed on the property and the grass is too short for consumption by cattle.

v A dead cat is found spiked over a fence in Featherston’s Memorial Gardens. The cat’s owner is never found.

v On a Taieri property, Otago SPCA finds a calf with severe injuries to two legs, which make mobility extremely difficult. Despite evidence of pain and distress, the calf’s owner had decided to ignore its suffering and fatten it for sausages.

v Three ducks are sighted in different parts of West Auckland with crossbow bolts through their necks. The trio of sightings in Ranui, Glen Eden and Helensville suggests that a serial offender is responsible.