K9 Perspective

The magazine your dog would want you to read

Editorial: May-June 2010:

Charges laid against dog killers

TO begin our new issue on a hopeful note, charges have been laid by the New Zealand SPCA in the case against Tony Campbell and Russell Mendoza, the couple who last January initiated a mindless two-man killing frenzy against a neighbour’s dogs that lasted a full 20 minutes of bloodshed. The case will be heard early in May.

I commend the SPCA action and hope that they achieve a good conviction, but considering the inactivity of the police, who have so far charged the pair with nothing, I do fear that the judge on the day may take that police inactivity as a guide and find them guilty of a minor offence such as carrying an unlicensed firearm. A $500 fine would be the joke of the century, especially as Mendoza has been described in local newspapers as a city farmer running a business and a farm and owning a large house, multiple cars, mobile home, boat etc.

The police in this case have proved unbelievable – these crazies trespassed onto a neighbouring property fully armed; they intimidated the neighbour into signing a paper to relieve them of responsibility (shockingly, that seems to be working even though nobody believes it to be genuine!); they shot dogs randomly without any thought to their suffering; none of the dogs belonged to either of them – and the police have so far failed to find any part of their killing spree unlawful, let alone the intimidation with a deadly weapon, trespass, and terrorism. All I can say is that I sympathise with anyone who expects police assistance in New Zealand. If that is lawful behaviour, what does it take to be unlawful?

The charges brought by the SPCA are in relation only to the dogs and the disgusting manner in which they were killed - they have no policing authority except in relation to animals and their treatment, so I fail to understand the police paralysis. Perhaps if readers use their imagination for a moment and consider what would have happened if the characters were reversed, then we may begin to understand ... if the rich guy had been menaced by two poor guys with guns ... get the picture? The poor guys would have been in jail the same day!

To change the subject, this magazine issue will be uploaded a little early as I am again on the move. After four years in Britain I am heading back to New Zealand so the July-August issue may be late, or may become the September-October issue, depending on how long it takes for my belongings, including my computer system, to arrive there. I am a little apprehensive I have to admit, after living in a country where one can walk down the street and pass 10-15 dogs out with their owners in a short walk to the dairy and back. There is no registration here (though there is some talk of starting it since the government badly needs funds) but a high proportion of owners have their dogs microchipped for the sake of safety, not because they are forced to do so.

Neither councils nor private landlords here make a rule of not owning a dog, unlike New Zealand where most seem to inflict a total ban on any occupier owning a dog, whether in state, council or private housing. I have never experienced a country so anti-dog, except those primitive countries that consider dogs as either unclean or food! So my return there is with reservations and the knowledge that I will have a lot of work to do in owner education. Anyone in that field who can regularly update information is invited to contact me with news, links, websites and emails of those persons and organisations who want to assist. Meanwhile, look after yourselves. - Liz