Shocking: Neglect that upset SPCA

Four serious cases of animal neglect are among cases handled by Wairarapa SPCA in the past two months.
Two malnourished puppies in two days - both of which needed to be put down, were the last straw for president Val Ball, who spoke yesterday about the need for people to take responsibility.
The latest, a puppy five weeks or younger, was dropped at a Masterton veterinarian yesterday in a malnourished state, and passed on to the SPCA.
He was too weak to eat and put down on the advice of an SPCA-contracted veterinarian.
The day before, a four-month-old puppy in similar condition had been dropped in.
A rottweiler so skinny it could barely walk was recovered in Eketahuna in late August, and two weeks later a bull mastiff in Masterton was freed from a thick chain so tight it had cut deeply into the animal's flesh.
In both cases, finding out who had responsibility for the animals was tricky business involving "garbled stories" Mrs Ball said.
The rottweiler weighed 23kg instead of the 60kg it should have weighed, and which the SPCA have nourished it back to.
The bull mastiff likewise has been nursed back to health - after boltcutters were used to remove the chain from its neck.
Mrs Ball said "not mine" is a common response of many people.
"That's a war cry a lot of people make - 'It's not my dog; it's not my cat' - but they've been feeding it for a year and then they don't want it anymore," she said.
That's an excuse that doesn't wash with this veteran.
"If you take on the responsibility of an animal, it's yours," Mrs Ball said.
"If you don't want it, bring it in today; don't bring it in after a year and say it's not mine."
Horses are another animal that often fall into this gap, Mrs Ball said.
A landowner might agree to let someone graze a horse on their paddock, and then the person disappears with no forwarding address.
"And we're stuck with a skinny horse and no details of the owner," Mrs Ball said.
"We're recommending a basic contract people should be drawing up with the people they're letting their land to."
This would include conditions such as the landowner maintaining the fences, and the animal owner making regular visits, Mrs Ball said.
"You take on the care of an animal the same way you take on the care of a child."