Dog dies after knife slashing
An Auckland man’s beloved dog had its throat fatally slashed after a dispute at his home on Monday.
Jack Van Biljon, 22, his girlfriend, and their two dogs had been living at a property on Dairy Flat Rd and knew the man who allegedly killed 10-month-old Turbo.
Van Biljon’s sister, Almay, said Turbo was ‘‘more like my little nephew than my brother’s dog’’ and that her family would forever be haunted by the attack.
Almay, 20, said her mother had called her on Monday, in tears, to tell her the man had slit the dog’s throat.
Turbo was a
She said her brother had only known the man for few months, but that he’d ‘‘seemed normal enough’’.
Monday’s attack happened after the man entered Van Biljon’s room in an apparent fit of rage, said Almay. Shortly afterwards her brother heard his girlfriend scream, and raced outside.
Turbo was inside her brother’s car with a gaping neck wound.
‘‘He was bleeding out, trying to find my brother,’’ said Almay.
She said she met her family at the police station and would never staffie-crosskelpie. forget the car’s interior covered in blood, ‘‘just like a murder scene’’.
Van Biljon got Turbo in August last year, from someone who could no longer have a dog.
‘‘It was love at first sight and they were together 24/7,’’ said Almay. ‘‘He became part of our family — every time I’d go there Turbo would just be jumping for joy.’’
Since Turbo’s death, Almay had had trouble sleeping and found it hard to leave the house.
‘‘It’s terrifying something like this could happen so close to home, and that someone I actually knew could do this to an innocent dog,’’ she said. ‘‘I can’t get it out of my head and it’s going to make it hard for us to trust people.’’
Almay has created a Givealittle page to raise funds for Turbo’s cremation.
Senior Sergeant Mike Rickards was called to scene after Turbo’s death.
‘‘At the address we located a deceased dog [and] the SPCA were called and are investigating this matter,’’ he said.
He said that a 39-year-old man at the address had been charged with possessing an offensive weapon and would appear in the North Shore District Court.