ANGER AT DOG ACT
DISTRAUGHT Yatala dog owners want police to take animal cruelty more seriously after their beloved pooch was found in a manhole covered by an empty flower pot.
Convinced Porky’s death was deliberate, Codie and Tyler Miller are paying $1200 for a legal canine necropsy to confirm how he died.
Codie says her agony was worsened because authorities appeared hamstrung by procedure.
THE owner of a 10-week-old corgi puppy she believes was killed and dumped in her backyard wants greater police action for missing pets.
Codie Miller’s puppy Porky went missing from her Yatala property last Tuesday and was found dead days later in a manhole covered by an empty flower pot.
Convinced Porky’s death was deliberate, Ms Miller is paying $1200 for a legal canine necropsy to confirm how he died and how long he had been dead.
She says her agony was exacerbated by her powerlessness to do anything once she realised her puppy was missing, as police could not or would not step in because it was not part of procedure.
“I couldn’t do anything until he was dead,” she said.
“I had a lot of circumstantial evidence that I wanted someone to at least look into.
“I called Policelink and tried to make a statement but they said there was no evidence – as in I didn’t have video of them putting him in a car or anything. I called the RSPCA and asked them what to do and they told me to make a statement.”
When Porky went missing, Ms Miller launched a vigorous social media campaign.
She also enlisted the help of two pet detectives from Missing and Stolen Pets Queensland, who discovered Porky’s body on Saturday despite scouring the property with her family for days.
“On Thursday we walked all around that area,” one of the detectives said.
“That pot was not in that area when we first searched.
“There is no other entry to that manhole. He didn’t get himself in there. It was a cover-up.”
The detectives claim his little body was not decomposed enough for him to have been dead for days.
They suspect he was stolen by a person known to the family who intended to sell or keep him, but after the social media campaign panicked and tried to make his death look accidental.
“They could have let him go,” Ms Miller said.
“I put on all my posts that I didn’t care who had done it, they could have dropped him off at a vet or the police station or anywhere. They didn’t have to kill him.
“And that’s what scares me – somewhere out there is someone who is capable of killing a puppy. And if they’re capable of killing a puppy, there is a chance they are capable of killing a human.”
Police say they are waiting on the results of the necropsy – that Ms Miller is self-funding – before they will begin investigating.
“Police were first notified about the puppy when it was found deceased in a waterway at the woman’s Yatala property on September 1,” a police spokesman said.
“Police are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine if there is anything suspicious about the puppy’s death. If the post-mortem results indicate anything suspicious, police will fully investigate.
“If a pet is missing, and there is no evidence of it being stolen or harmed, members of the public should firstly make contact with the Gold Coast City Council, RSPCA or Animal Welfare League.”