Wellsford Dog Slaughter: New Zealand Police Seize Brothers' Weapons After 33 Dogs Are Killed

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Police on Friday seized weapons used by two New Zealand men to slaughter more than 30 dogs owned by a neighbor in what animal welfare authorities said could be the country's worst animal cruelty case.

Inspectors from the nation's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, shocked at the slaughter near the main city of Auckland, said it planned to file charges over the killings when it finishes forensic examination of the dead dogs.

Police are investigating the incident, looking at firearms' registration and possible charges of reckless discharge of a gun, spokesman Kevin Loughlin said.

Media reports said Russell Mendoza had confronted a neighbor, Rowan Hargreaves, complaining that one of Hargreaves' 39 dogs had killed his fox terrier. Mendoza and another man, armed with a .22 rifle and a shotgun, later returned to Hargreaves' property and shot 33 dogs, including 23 puppies and very young dogs.

"It was a haunting scene of death and destruction, and I struggle to comprehend what took place there," SPCA investigator Sascha Keltie said.

She said bullet entry and exit wounds to some of the dogs indicated they had not died instantly, and blood trails were consistent with an injured dog moving. Another inspector, Vicki Border, said the shooters seemed to be on a "frenzied mission."

SPCA inspectors, who are government appointees, are empowered to file animal cruelty charges under New Zealand law. The men could face up to three years in prison.

SPCA executive director Bob Kerridge said the case was among the worst his staff had ever seen.

Comments

[DarkWitch]

01:56 PM on 02/01/2010

What those guys did wasn't right, because it wasn't the dogs' faults their owner was acting extremely irresponsibily. But the person owning 39 free-roaming dogs of any breed should be prosecuted as well. Dogs are pack animals, and can be very unpredictable and dangerous when running in packs. That situation was a disaster just waiting to happen, the neighbor's pet dog was already a victim of this pack, a person could have been next.

[Cristancho]

02:14 PM on 02/01/2010

I'm going to have to second that. I had a neighbor with 4 dogs once who constantly escaped and terrorized the neighbor as a feral pack. Once I woke up to howling and squealing, and opened my door to the site of these 4 animals literally ripping apart a cat in my yard. If I had a neighbor with 39 yapping dogs, I'd eventually want to go ballistic, especially if they killed one of my dogs.

[SweetJudith]

09:18 AM on 02/02/2010

In the first place you don't even know what kind of dogs they were so get off the speculation tour. You people have ice water running through your veins. Pathetic, you're simply pathetic. You attack the voiceless and innocent...Shameful...

[Mondayboy]

01:33 PM on 02/01/2010

Where in the story are pit bulls mentioned? I think most commentators here are assuming they were pitbulls. I wish they had stated the breed of dogs.

Anyway, this is just horrible.

[KriTiKiT]

11:54 AM on 02/01/2010

some of theblog below is damning the nature of the pit. this needs to stop.
you have to understand a pit is a dog... and if you can't control one that just shows that your not in-control. a pit is a true pack dog, and must be approached with confidence and control.
It was not the breed as so much as it was a PACK OF DOGS... any dog, dingo, coyote, wolf... when they roam they hunt... you can't damn the nature of the pit with out damning the nature of the dog it self.
these men who shot these dogs, are just as guilty for having there own dog roam.

[KriTiKiT]

11:44 AM on 02/01/2010

if these men went in frenzied, they where like a pack of dogs...
if they could do this to puppies and dogs and wipe them out and reload and wipe more out, they could do this to people. they need serious time, and a trip to the padded rubber room

[kalvin]

02:29 AM on 02/01/2010

The dogs are not to be blamed. Both sides show extreme behaviour. On one side why keep so many pit bulls? On the other hand the other party feeled aggravated when their fox terrier got chewed by the pit bulls. Dogs hunt in packs it must have been a terrible sight for the owner to find his dog chewed to bits. But why the mass killings?

[kalvin]

02:59 AM on 02/01/2010

Ugh.. bad English ......other party felt aggravated........

[ljmck]

05:21 AM on 01/31/2010

Men and their guns.

[enquiringmind]

01:33 AM on 01/31/2010

What exactly were they doing with that many pit bulls, they were either running a puppy mill or using them to fight.

There has to be more, it's not unusual for dogs as a pack to kill a dog not of that pack. This is a strange story.

[jmpurser]

11:12 AM on 01/31/2010

My guess is we're hearing half the monstrous act that happened here. Do YOU want to live next door to 39 pit bulls (judging by the photo and behavior)? I'm guessing killing their dog was the last straw and it finally got ugly enough to make the papers instead of the police nuisance sheet.

[KriTiKiT]

11:46 AM on 02/01/2010

do you believe there was another solution?

[escribacat]

12:46 AM on 01/31/2010

If someone did that to my dogs ... well, I'm sure I'd end up in jail.

[Texas Aggie]

10:16 PM on 01/30/2010

About pit bulls. I have yet to meet one that was vicious on its own. The ones that have had decent owners have all been mature, loving animals. E.g, a friend adopted one out of a shelter that had belonged to a narco who was sent to jail. This friend also had a Border Collie, and the collie was definitely nastier than the pit bull. A neighbor has a pit bull that will slobber all over you trying to get affection. My own pit cross has never attacked another dog in anger (except once two mastiffs that were attacking my other dogs) and sleeps with three cats. I once adopted a cocker spaniel off the street that was nastier than any pit bull and the only reason it didn't hurt someone is that it wasn't big enough. It sure tried hard enough.

[jmpurser]

11:18 AM on 01/31/2010

My net experience with Pit Bulls is quite negative. The problem being that they were bred to be extreme dogs not only capable of but willing to kill anything else without provocation. Now, away from their heritage of the dog fighting ring, they tend to be the worst offenders at any normal dog behavior. We have three houses with "barking dog" problems in my neighborhood. The pit bull is far and away the worst. Lots of dogs play too aggressively at the dog park. The pit bulls are the worst. These aren't the internet horror stories of people mauled and killed, these are just every day interactions with the breed.

On the other end of the behavioral scale the pit bulls don't do any of the good things dogs do better than any other breed.

On top of that nearly every pit bull is owned by someone who CHOSE to own a pit bull. A stunning minority of them are people who know the breed and respond responsibly. The rest are disasters eagerly seeking a place to happen.

[KriTiKiT]

11:50 AM on 02/01/2010

you have to understand a pit is a dog... and if you can't control one that just shows that your not in-control. a pit is a true pack dog, and must be approached with confidence and control.
It was not the breed as so much as it was a PACK OF DOGS... any dog, dingo, coyote, wolf... when they roam they hunt... you can't damn the nature of the pit with out damning the nature of the dog it self.

[andhakari]

02:57 PM on 01/30/2010

The must all be crazy. Owning 33 dogs, and they look like pit bulls, I have to wonder if they were for fighting.
Glad I don't live in their neighborhood.

[larry278]

10:48 AM on 01/30/2010

FWIW, I've discovered that I'm no longer inured to animal cruelty. The photo of the slaughtered dogs has upset me greatly. Would there a way to stop all sorts of cruelty at once-it would be good. It is disconcerting to see that I'm developing what ever passes for a conscience in 2010. I'm a man in my 70's. I've accepted gratitious violence since I was 6. I didn't notice the world's violence which surrounded me till I was 6.
Until today, I accepted violence as a necessary evil in my life. It appears that I've managed to learned something that is new to me. While I avoided cock fights & dog fights after I had seen 1 each of this these bloody events, I continued to believe that animals had to be slaughtered cruely for the so called greater good of feeding & entertaining human kind.
This is a new day in my life; I've learned something new (to me) in spite of myself. I suppose that I'll be dead when I no longer learn.

[peacekitten]

06:21 PM on 01/30/2010

you have discovered something in yourself for which you should be very, very grateful.

you should be commended for opening your eyes and your heart no matter when it occurs in your life.

you are finally allowing yourself to really live.

bravo.

[jmpurser]

11:45 AM on 01/31/2010

IMHO it's worth a lot. Personal growth is valuable and it's good to know it's going on out there.

I'm a couple of decades behind you in age and just a few years ago I was training a hunting dog and suddenly came to the realization that I didn't want another dead bird in my hand. I'm not anti-hunting for the most part (a great deal of what's called "hunting" today is appalling but another story). But for me, it's over. I finished training the dog in obedience and have one of the best behaved dogs at the dog park now.

And I'm looking for better sources of meat for the kitchen and eating more vegetables. Trying to get away from the factory farm. The violence happens whether I see it laid out in front of me you know.

So keep up your personal journey. And thanks for sharing.

[cybersense]

10:04 AM on 01/30/2010

This is terrible and being charged for animal cruelty and only get three years isn't enough.

People that do this kind of killing have more then slight behavior problems. This kind of cruelty dictates
some pretty severe mental disorders. Can't imagine if you happened to cut them off on the road.

[alguien]

04:24 PM on 01/30/2010

3 years per animal makes more sense to me.

[Texas Aggie]

10:05 PM on 01/30/2010

A mi tambien.

[YamalDodgyData]

08:58 AM on 01/30/2010

My local Korean restaurant goes through more than 33 dogs on average every night.
meh .. storm in a teacup story for the furries.

[Furby2]

10:12 AM on 01/30/2010

Wow, racism, cruelty and apathy all wrap up in a single sentence. You the shooter?

[Opygollopy]

09:38 PM on 01/30/2010

So I suppose you do not care about the fact that 2 crazed people went on a shooting frenzy where not just dogs could be killed. I hope you live no where near me.

[peacekitten]

02:24 AM on 01/30/2010

magnumbob1

Oh, one last thing. Seek professional help, and by all means, STAY OUT OF THE WOODS! Because in reality the bears, cougars, alligators and wolves really aren't going to be all that impressed with your sign language.
===========================

well, you know what magnumb00b? i'm smart enough to STAY OUT OF THEIR WAY. and when i go camping, i go -UNARMED, sometimes without even a TENT, building my OWN FIRES, and i've NEVER had a bit of trouble, EVER.

you are one s1ck f**k. don't even pretend to try and tell me what i need. YOU'RE the one that's obviously some kind of ppsych0.

stay away from ALL animals. even the sstuffed ones. i don't think you ever need to worry about an animal eating you because they don't want the indigestion. they tend to stay away from rrotting and ddiseased meat.

and don't talk to me again. you've got some real issues, and your time would be much more productively spent with a qualified therapist.

[PhilipTaylor]

10:21 PM on 01/29/2010

So much for thinking humans are any better down under!