A Bay man charged with animal cruelty after black swans were allegedly mowed down by a jet boat is also accused of filming a juvenile goat being thrown into the air and shot.
The man, who has been granted interim name and occupation suppression, faced three charges of ill-treatment ofan animal, namely black swans, when he and another man appeared before Tauranga Community Magistrate Sue Howell yesterday.
The allegation against the first man is the ill-treatment resulted in the swans being seriously injured or impaired after being hit on Tauranga Harbour on or about December 26.
He and another Bay man who also appeared in court yesterday, face a further unrelated animal ill-treatment charge stemming from a separate incident involving the shooting of a goat in 2011. Court documents reveal this charge relates to an allegation that one defendant shot a goat after it had been thrown into the air, causing it unreasonable or unnecessary pain and suffering.
An arrest warrant has been issued for a third man charged with aiding and abetting the other two men by throwing the goat into the air, after he evaded a court summons.
Mark Beech, the lawyer of the first two men, successfully argued for name suppression. Both defendants were remanded on bail without pleas and are due back in court in Tauranga on July 16.
