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Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013
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Dogs maul prize guinea pigs BY SUE NEWMAN
SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Two dogs on a killing spree have destroyed years of work for guinea pig breeder Sandra Smith. On Sunday night the dogs entered the Smiths’ property, overturned cages and savaged 18 guinea pigs, a rabbit and a hen. A devastated Mrs Smith was left counting the loss in breeding stock and in bloodlines that the kill had wiped out. “We didn’t hear anything but our neighbours said they heard something at two o’clock and got up and chased the dogs away. They said they heard biting and scratching on cages,” Mrs Smith said. Yesterday morning she spotted a large dog on her section and when she and her husband went out to check their animals they discovered the carnage. They saw two dogs. Mrs Smith described one as a brindle mastiff and the other as a red pitbull. “They both looked pretty fierce.
“One rushed into a cage and Russell shut it in. We called dog control and they’ve got them both. “One of them had registration tags and they’ve been traced back to Orr Street,” she said. This is the second time in three weeks that the Smiths have lost animals to dogs. Last time the overnight raid cost them about 14 hens. Their section is not fenced, but fencing would cost thousands of dollars the Smiths do not have. “We’ve tried to work out our options, but you have to ask what these dogs are doing running around loose at night. “I’m an advocate for responsible dog ownership
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and the owners of these dogs should be held accountable.” The couple have lived at their address since 1976 and while they’ve had problems with dogs before, Sunday night’s attack was the worst they’d experienced, Mrs Smith said. “We’re angry and we won’t give up. It’s a matter of what we do next, how we plan. This has made our lives a bit more complicated. Unfortunately, if these dogs go down the road, there will be more.” Ashburton District Council environmental monitoring manager Rick Catchpowle confirmed
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the council’s dog control contractor had been called to the William Street address. Two dogs, a pitbull and a bull mastiff cross, had been linked to the attack and had been impounded, Mr Catchpowle said. “As investigations are ongoing I do not want to pre-determine the outcome at this stage as a number of factors need to be confirmed before any decision can be made. We take these matters seriously and will be conducting a full investigation,” he said. Below: Sandra Smith faces a heartbreaking task, cleaning up after marauding dogs killed a large number of her guinea pigs on Sunday night. PHOTO TETSURO MITOMO 211013-TM-120
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