Kitten cruelty adds to infamy

A case involving a kitten shot through an eye and partially skinned is adding to Northland's reputation for animal cruelty.
Last year Northland headed an annual "list of shame" compiled by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, contributing four of the worst 30 cases of animal abuse in the country.
The region's notoriety looks unlikely to get any better this year after the mutilated carcass of a kitten was found at Oakleigh last week.
Whangarei police Constable Helen Saunders said the the six-week-old kitten - one of a litter of five - had been shot through the eye and partially skinned.
Its mutilated carcass was discovered on the boundary of an Oakleigh Wharf Rd property and railway lines by a young member of the family whose property is home to the litter.
"The person would probably have had to go on to the property to get the kitten," Ms Saunders said.
While a neighbour claimed to have heard gunshots, police had no other leads.
Anyone who might have seen anyone, or have lost a pet in similar circumstances, is being asked to contact the Whangarei police.
The pet's owner, Tina Subritzky, said its cruel death had shocked her and 15-year-old daughter Jasmine, who had made the grisly discovery.
"There was blood everywhere, splattered all over the grass.
"Its eye was badly swollen and I could see that a bullet had gone through it and out of its mouth because its teeth were smashed," a horrified Jasmine said, recalling the sight.
"Its two front paws were split and I could see that they had tried to skin it.
"There was skin hanging off. There has to be something seriously wrong with a person who could do that."
Ms Subritzky, angry at the torture inflicted on the kitten, said she was concerned that whoever had inflicted the injuries would have had to have gone on to her property to get the kitten.
Whangarei SPCA manager Francine Shields said there were a "lot of sick people out there that seem to get some enjoyment out of animal cruelty" in Northland.
"It is quite clear, and research shows, that people who torment and torture animals go on and do the same to people and become very unpleasant members of society," Ms Shields said.
"People need to report anybody being cruel to an animal so we can take action against them and make an example of them."
She said, though, that the justice system needed to back up society's condemnation of such acts by imposing tougher penalties.
Ms Shields said the latest case was not good for Northland as it looked to try to shake off its position at the top of the SPCA's list of shame.
"The public are not tolerating this sort of thing as much as they used to.
"But there are still a lot of people who will ignore (instances of abuse) and who don't want to report it for some reason," she said. "But it is a problem for the whole community.
"If somebody can be so cruel to a defenceless animal it doesn't say a lot for that person. It shows they have no conscience and it's very cowardly behaviour.
"The community needs to be aware that people who abuse animals almost all the time go on to abuse people."
Ms Shields said anybody with information about the abuse of the kitten, or any other animal cruelty, should contact the SPCA or the police.