The campaign on the West Coast against 1080 poison has taken a sinister turn after a dog belonging to a Greymouth pest control officer was allegedly poisoned.
It is believed 1080 pellets were poked through a ute canopy as the family pet sat inside.
Senior Sergeant Tom Firmin,
of Greymouth police, confirmed they were investigating an incident involving the use of 1080 to kill an animal.
He was appalled at the killing, which he said was "totally unacceptable".
He would not comment further while inquiries were continuing.
The dog owner was also reluctant to comment publicly.
The man had left his 10-year-old huntaway, a family pet as well a working dog, in an enclosed ute at a supermarket car park.
When he arrived home the dog started convulsing and vomiting green fluid. A quick inspection of the vehicle revealed traces of 1080 in the back.
Aware the dog had absorbed a lethal dose, and not wanting to further alarm his children, the owner bundled it back into the vehicle, took it to a private spot and used a rifle to put it out of its misery.
The man said he believed someone opened the canopy, threw in a handful of 1080 and then closed it, consigning the dog to an agonising death.
Vector Control project manager Chris Pullen today said the "horrific" incident had taken the 1080 protests to another level.
Protests in Kumara and Karamea have become increasingly vocal ahead of aerial 1080 operations scheduled this month.
Mr Pullen said the killing had worrying aspects because the dog's owner was in an unmarked vehicle going about his personal business at the weekend.
"Was this guy following him or something?"
It was a "blatant, personal attack on a guy who was just doing his job".
"It totally contradicts their philosophy of protecting animals," he said.
The dog's owner was today hoping car park surveillance tapes - now in the hands of the police - might show someone acting suspiciously around his vehicle.
An outspoken anti-1080 campaigner, Kumara resident Carey Dillon was outraged to hear of the incident.
- NZPA
