Dog owner sentenced for starving her pet

A King Country beneficiary has become the first person to receive a custodial sentence for failing to provide for her dog.

The dog in question, Misty, was starved to nearly half of her normal weight.

Luana Adams was yesterday sentenced to three and half months home detention, disqualified from owning an animal for five years and ordered to pay vet and prosecution costs of $1993 via $10 weekly instalments.

Adams, 40, had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges brought by Te Kuiti SPCA of failing to provide food and water or adequate shelter for Misty, a white and tan crossbreed. MORE>>

Dog helped ex-boyfriend attack

An Auckland man whose dog joined in when he attacked his ex-girlfriend's new partner has been sentenced to five months jail.

William Black has been in custody since June over the attack on Lindsay England. Judge Roy Wade said Black had gone to his former girlfriend's Stanmore Bay house and argued with the residents.

At some point Black and England fell to the ground and Black punched England several times. One of the two dogs Black had with him joined in the attack and only stopped when called off. England was taken to North Shore Hospital where he was treated for his injuries and blood loss.

 Black later breached a protection order by texting his former girlfriend. He pleaded guilty to the breach of protection order, assault and owning a dog that attacked someone. He was sentenced to five months prison but as he has already been on remand longer than that, he will be released later today. An order to destroy the dog was made. MORE>>

Pooch solves dog-gone mystery

An Eketahuna woman is singing the praises of her english cocker spaniel Izzy after it sniffed out another dog that had been trapped for four days on a sheer cliff face.

 Karen Barber said a neighbouring couple had lost their Australian terrier Fergie on November 10, and failed to find him despite several searches in and around the neighbourhood.

 Mrs Barber said she had joked with friends that she would take Izzy for a late afternoon stroll along the Cliff Walk, which runs atop the 20-metre cliff flanking the Makakahe River, and "sniff out the lost dog". "As soon as we got near the spot where the dog had fallen, Izzy started whining and Fergie barked."

 Mrs Barber decided to leave the rescue of the dog in expert hands and called the volunteer brigade. MORE>>

Rotorua dog cruelty makes SPCA List of Shame

A climbing carabiner threaded through the neck of a dog in Rotorua and an emaciated dog found on the side of the road that was shaking violently have been added this year's SPCA List of Shame, a shocking collection of animal cruelty in New Zealand.
 

Also on the list is a family cat deliberately cut up in Timaru, a tethered pet goat stabbed to death in Greymouth, and in Wellington, several boys kick and hit a small terrier cross dog with a cricket bat.  MORE>>