Abused pup used as basketball

A puppy has been rehomed in an animal shelter after being kicked, struck against a tree and thrown through a basketball hoop by four boys.
A resident in Papakura heard a dog yelping on Saturday night, and witnessed the boys kicking the 2-month-old labrador-cross puppy among them in a reserve on Wilson St.
The resident did not lay a complaint, but when the boys, aged 12 and 13, returned to the park on Sunday evening the police were called. MORE>>

linking youth abuse towards animals with future abuse towards all beings. So how, as a society, are we going to deal with this?

Our hidden pet abuse shame

The world may be appalled by a British woman who put a cat in a wheelie bin, but it is nothing when compared to dogs being hanged in this country, SPCA workers say.
(...)
But in New Zealand, abuse is a lot worse.
SPCA workers say they have dealt with a man who used duct tape to hold the muzzle of his dog closed, later slitting her throat. A dog's facial injury was left unattended so half of it rotted away. And dogs are being hanged from trees in Gisborne. SPCA chief inspector Charles Cadwallader said that at an animal welfare forensic conference in the United States, professionals from overseas were shocked to hear about the state of New Zealand's animal cruelty. MORE>>

While I understand there are unreported animal abuse, and reported and sighted animal abuse, I wonder how bad it really is. When you are exposed to animal cruelty everyday, you think that it is happening every day, in every neighbourhood, and sometimes more than it really is.

It is natural that when you are aware of something, your mind tends to see more of it/them. Buy a Honda Accord, and you tend to see more of them on the road even though the same numbers of them were always there. Work with alcoholics, and you think that alcohol is a problem for everyone. 

This is why research at a university level is important. It quantifies what we might feel is true. Research gives it balance, and power.

Yes, there is animal abuse in New Zealand, but it is at a critical level like this article implies? Why doesn't this article explore the ways we can stop it? 

Rodney Hide (parliamentary member) said in the last Animal Companion Conference (2009) that he was going to put funds for research. WHERE IS THE MONEY? Where is the RESEARCH Mr Hide!

Brave Jimmy out on Three Legs

The six-month-old puppy savagely attacked with an iron bar at the weekend has a new name and a new lease on life after having its right front leg amputated.

Waitara vet Steve DeGrey, who performed the amputation on Monday, said the improvement in the bearded collie cross's condition has been remarkable.

"He doesn't know he's only got three legs now so he is still bumping into things," Dr DeGrey said.

"It was a severe injury and extremely painful. He couldn't move even with pain relief."

MORE>>

Thieving parrots hatch a plan to unlock food

Kea parrots are renowned thieves in their native New Zealand, and with good reason - even a complicated sequence of locks can't foil them.
Hiromitsu Miyata of Kyoto University in Japan first presented keas with boxes of food secured with up to three bolts. The parrots managed to open all of them, so he made the tasks harder. The most challenging set-up involved two bolts blocking each other such that one needed to be slid open before the second would release.
Miyata found that the keas cracked this problem faster if they were allowed to study the set-up for a while before attempting to break it (Animal Cognition, DOI: 10.1007/s10071-010-0342-9). This suggests they are able to plan their moves, he says. Until now, the birds were thought to tackle problems in a haphazard fashion.

'Bark diary' evidence used to evict noisy dog

Neighbours of a noisy dog were asked to keep "bark diaries" before the pet was eventually confiscated in a dispute that has soaked up hundreds of hours of council time and involved police.

BJ the 10-year-old border collie-cross has been the subject of complaints to Napier City Council for four years. He is now in the city pound after the council took him on Monday.

Nearly all of the complaints have come from immediate neighbour Peter Johnson, who has two exercise books – bark diaries – filled with the dates, times and the duration of BJ's barking.

BJ has lived with Corina Halka and her two daughters at their Len Davis Tce property since 2006. The Halkas' previous dog, Ray, was also the subject of complaints from Mr Johnson and was removed in 2005.

(....)

Mr Johnson, 68, said BJ's barking had made his life hell. "As soon as I step out the door it goes berserk." He had thrown water on BJ "only three or four times". He should have thrown some treats instead!

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This is a sad situation. I understand that barking dogs can be nuisance. Too bad he didn't consider taking it for a walk, or bring it on his property for company. Ya well, I suppose that wasn't really considered due to the bad history between them.

However, the dog's owners should have taken more responsibility of their anxious dog. Why get a dog if you aren't going to give him/her the attention (mental, and physical) they rightly deserve.

A sad day for everyone really.

Dog attacks on sheep prompt plea

An Otatara woman wants dog owners to keep a better eye on their pets ahead of lambing after five sheep were attacked this month, the latest a newborn lamb on Saturday morning.

Jennie Phillips has found two dead sheep, including a pregnant ewe, in her paddocks so far this month and another three sheep that had bite wounds in their necks and legs.

The attack on Saturday, on a lamb born on Thursday, was the fourth on sheep on her Coggins Rd property in a year.

A dog killed about 28 chickens four years ago.

MORE>>

Well, yes dogs can do damage, but just think what enemies these sheep would have if they lived in the United States or Canada... you have wolves, coyotes, snakes which of course means that dogs can't get near the sheep.

Yes there are predators everywhere, and in some countries there are more than others. That's why New Zealand has so many sheep because, in reality, it's the ideal country to have them.

Dogs attack police team during hunt for burglar

A police officer and his dog needed medical treatment yesterday after being attacked by neighbourhood dogs while looking for two burglars.

The officer suffered a sliced wrist and Quake, the police dog, will be off duty for about two weeks with puncture wounds.

After a burglary in the Auckland suburb of Mt Wellington late yesterday afternoon, the pair were helpingto track down two burglars whowere seen running away from the house. MORE>>

Six New MAF Biosecurity Detector Dogs Start Work

Six new MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) detector dogs started work this week at Auckland and Christchurch airports and the International Mail Centre in Auckland.

MAFBNZ Detector Dog Programme Manager, Stuart Rawnsley, said the MAFBNZ detector dog programme trained both ‘passive’ response dogs, like Beagles with natural scenting ability and high interest in food, as well as ‘active’, often mixed-breed dogs keen on play and retrieving. Both sniffed out meat, plants, seeds, live animals including snakes, animal products, and fruit and vegetables prohibited from entering New Zealand. MORE>>

Dog trouble in Christchurch

Two dogs were hit by cars and a dog bit a police officer in an action-packed incident in Christchurch last night.

Police were called to Linwood about 6.20pm after a dog ran on to Cashel St and was hit by a car.

Acting Sergeant Soames Crowther said a man was walking four dogs, none of which had leads, when a puppy ran on to the road and was run over. The dog's owner then got into an argument with the motorist. When police arrived, another dog bolted on to the road and was hit by another car.

Crowther said that while the dog owner was being arrested after arguing with police, one of his other dogs bit a police officer on the leg.

A second man, who attempted to intervene after his friend was arrested, was arrested for disorderly conduct.

"People need to have their dogs on leashes, especially at night," Crowther said.

The two dogs hit by cars were being treated at an after-hours veterinary clinic last night.

The other two dogs were taken to the city pound.