DOG’S HORROR DEATH SHOCKS
Police investigating beloved pet killed, hung on fence
KELLY Morrow has been struggling to explain to her children what kind of person would kill a beloved family pet and leave it hanging on a fence.
The Gatton woman made the grisly discovery Friday night when she went to feed Rocko, her four-year-old male staffy she’d had since he was eight weeks old.
The incident has left her children traumatised, and her other young dog afraid of people, Ms Morrow told The Chronicle.
“The kids loved him and are just devastated and keep asking where he is and why they can’t go out and play with him,” she said.
Police confirmed a report was filed and the matter was under investigation, but they would not disclose any further information.
Police removed Rocko’s body and Ms Morrow said he was taken to UQ Vets small animal hospital.
She believed Rocko, who was also affectionately known as Boof, was beaten with a star picket driver and left to hang on the fence of her home which backs onto the Gatton showgrounds.
He was alive when she returned home about 7pm Friday but found him about half an hour later when she went to feed him.
“On one side there were no marks at all,” Ms Morrow said.
“But on the other side it looked like he’d been beaten.
“He had been hung on the fence by his collar.
“I know my dog and he doesn’t jump to get out.”
Ms Morrow’s other dog also had a mark on her head and now won’t go outside.
She fears the people who killed Rocko will return to her home, and has issued an urgent plea for anyone with information to report it to police.
It is the latest in a string of reprehensible incidents involving animals being killed in the region, she said.
A labrador was found with 30 puncture wounds in her head after she was shot in a sickening attack in Grantham last September.
Another dog dubbed Clarissa was found near Leyburn in October with what veterinarians believe were bullet fragments.