Mountaintop Natural Pets

Source: NZHerald.com.nz, Jan 28, 2010

SPCA staff who inspected bloody carcasses of 33 dogs after they were slaughtered in Northland earlier this week have been offered counselling.

The SPCA said it was still deciding what charges it would lay against two men who went onto Russell Hargreaves’ property near Wellsford north of Auckland and shot dead 33 of his 39 dogs.

SPCA executive director Bob Kerridge said what staff saw was a turn-around of what they stood for and they were very emotional.

“Abuse to animals is totally contrary to how they feel,” Mr Kerridge said today.

One of the men who shot the dogs ran a store advertising pet care.

Russell Mendoza and another man used a .22 calibre rifle and shotgun to shoot the dogs on Monday night, blaming one or more of them for the mauling death of Mr Mendoza’s fox terrier. The slaughter included 23 pups and 10 adult dogs.

Mr Hargreaves described the dogs as his family and said he was in shock.

Mr Mendoza refused to speak about the killings yesterday, but a friend said he was preparing a statement with his lawyer.

Mr Mendoza and his wife run Home & Garden Wellsford, which advertised pet care, but Mr Hargreaves said there was no logic to that if he was an animal lover.

SPCA investigator Sascha Keltie said the death scene was “not unlike a massacre”.

She said bullet entry and exit wounds on some of the dogs indicated they had not died instantly, and blood trails were consistent with an injured dog moving.

Six adult dog bodies were piled on top of one another as if they had been trying to protect themselves.

Mr Kerridge said 10 dog bodies had been taken to the SPCA for investigation and until reports on their deaths was completed, charges would not be laid.

He also said Mr Mendoza would be interviewed as part of the inquiry.

Mr Kerridge said the animals had been well looked after and neither the police, the SPCA nor the Rodney District Council had received any complaints about Mr Hargreaves’ dogs.

“They were very, very healthy, very well cared for animals.”

Source: kjct8.com, December 31, 2009

It’s one of the worst crimes park rangers have seen in years. A dog was dragged to death and then dumped on the Colorado National Monument early Wednesday morning. Now park rangers are looking for the culprit.

The male German Shepherd-Blue Heeler mix was found dead with a rope around his neck.

“Oh, that’s frightening,” said Betty Johnson, a dog owner. “I can’t believe people would treat a dog that way.”

“Absolutely horrible. It’s very inhumane,” said dog owner Sarah Speas.

A defenseless dog, dragged three miles to his death and left to die in the snow.

“We’ve not seen this type of heinous crime in the monument before and I certainly hope we don’t see it again,” said Colorado National Monument superintendent Joan Anzelmo. Anzelmo says one of her employees made the gruesome discovery early Wednesday morning.

“The animal apparently was attached to the vehicle at the base of the west hill, and as the vehicle accelerated, first it was walking then it was running. It couldn’t keep up and was being drug and strangled as it got to the three mile mark on the west hill,” she said.

The dog was found dead with a blue and silver synthetic rope still around his neck.

“This is one of the most sickening crimes that we have all witnessed,” Anzelmo said.

Park rangers believe the dog may have been stolen from its owner. Dog owners are shocked.

“I’ve heard that cruelty to animals is the start to other acts of violence towards humans,” Speas said. Speas says her dog Lily is a part of her family. “She has feelings just like we do. If she’s abused, it changes her personality.”

Dog owners want the culprit caught.

“I think they should be prosecuted and put in jail. Because dogs have souls. They’re a part of our lives and our families. To mistreat them like that is just– it’s criminal,” said dog owner Kent Johnson.

Anzelmo says they have several leads right now and hope to have the person who committed this crime in custody soon. She says they intend to prosecute this to the highest level of state and federal laws.