Horrific massacre of sheep
The carcasses of six pregnant sheep were found horribly mutilated on a Taranaki golf course.
Officers in Patea are calling on the community’s help to find who was responsible for the ‘‘massacre’’ that saw some of the animals decapitated.
Their shoulders and legs were sliced off, bellies slit open, senior sergeant Kyle Davie said.
‘‘They cut their throats - not enough to kill them. They’ve been left to walk around until they collapsed. Then they’ve been massacred basically. I’m hoping they were dead by then, it’s certainly something they didn’t deserve.’’
The grisly scene was discovered in a blood-soaked paddock near the Patea Golf Course club house on Friday morning.
The owner of the sheep, Bevan Dobson, said he had lost sheep to thieves wanting meat in the past, but this time nothing was taken.
The animals had been herded into the yard at the end of the golf course, where they were kept while the course was in use.
Once penned in, they had been chased down and caught .
‘‘They have cut their throats and let them go off and bleed to death, then they’ve slit open their bellies and cut off the shoulders. To do that - the mentality of that person to slaughter a sheep like that.
‘‘What’s next, some old bugger walking along the street?’’
The six dead ewes were pregnant with 13 lambs, which, if they’d been raised to weaning, would have brought the animals’ value to around $3000.
He said he had lost 15 sheep to a dog attack just a few months ago in another paddock he leased in Patea.
Police believe the massacre is part of a series of incidents in the town last week, including two police cars having their tyres slashed the same night.
‘‘We believe they’re all linked, and the same offender is involved in all of them,’’ he said.
Earlier in the week, a rubbish bin was set alight at the beach, which is near the golf course, and burned to the ground. The tyres were also slashed on a tourist’s car parked at the beach on Thursday.
Davie advised residents to take extra care with security.
‘‘I think people have to be careful. We don’t know where this is going to lead, someone lighting fires and going and slitting animals’ throats... I don’t want to speculate but it’s not normal behaviour.’’
Police had a person of interest they would be speaking to and were following up leads.
He urged anyone who had heard anything about the crimes to come forward.
‘‘We suggest that some people in the town will know who did it. If someone has heard talk around town, they may not have evidence to support it but we’d still like to hear from them.
‘‘At the end of the day the community needs to take ownership of things out there, to give us any information they can, so we can put a stop to it.’’
The golf course is fairly isolated, but if anyone had seen or heard any activity near there, the police were keen to hear from them.
* Anyone with information is asked to call the Hawera Police on 06 27 80260 or Crimestoppers on freephone 0800 555 111 and quote file number 170708/8069.