Dog owners incite savage attack on cat
Wellington woman Jan Walton has nothing but sympathy for the dog that viciously mauled her pet cat and may leave her sleeping back in her car.
But the dog’s owners – the ones who apparently ordered the New Year’s Day attack, egged it on, then laughed when it was done – should be punished, she said.
Porirua’s Camp Elsdon, which backs onto native bush, is Walton’s home after an extended period living in her car with 10-year-old cat Tom.
Tears still came to her eyes yesterday as she recounted the mauling.
Walton was in the camp kitchen when the attack happened but she got the details from campers who watched-on horrified, then helped.
Tom was sunning himself near the edge of the camp ground when a muscular dog, being walked by its owners on the track behind, was told ‘‘sic, sic’’. The dog obeyed – attacking and mauling the elderly cat. The attack lasted 20 to 30 seconds while its owners encouraged it before a camper ran up, yelling at the dog.
The owners simply laughed and continued with the walk while Tom hid under the kitchen with a suspected broken pelvis, Walton said.
She finally coaxed Tom out and got him to the vet clinic but she had to discharge him with painkillers and without a full diagnosis: ‘‘They can’t continue to do anything without more money.’’
Walton, a beneficiary who had been living in her car with Tom for about a year, had no idea what the vet bill to-date would come to or how she would pay for coming care. ‘‘I will move out of here if I have to. I would rather live in my car.’’
The dog appeared well lookedafter and – going by the speed it reacted to its owners’ instructions – well trained.
‘‘This is what I can’t understand about the owners; if you love them so much, why risk getting them put to sleep. I think they [the owners] should be put to sleep. [The dog] is too nice to be put to sleep.’’
Someone sent a photo of the dog after SPCA posted about the attack on Facebook.
SPCA’s Ros Alsford said there had been some ‘‘positive information’’ pointing to the dog’s owners.
‘‘The owners certainly encouraged the dog to attack.’’
The initial investigation would be under powers SPCA had under the Animal Welfare Act but the case could be passed on to police. If there was a call to destroy the dog it would go before the courts.
SPCA’s Facebook post said it was ‘‘incredibly concerning that a dog is being actively encouraged to bait other animals’’.