A Pukekohe local has been left feeling "disturbed" and "physically sick" after a dead rabbit was pinned to a car using the window wipers and driven through the main street on show.
Yesterday at 4.30pm, Franklin resident Wayne Browning had pulled up for a bite to eat on King Rd when out of the corner of his eye he spotted what he described as a "disturbing" sight.
Pinned on the back of a car was a dead rabbit being held up with a window wiper.
Browning told the Herald he and his wife were horrified.
"We pulled up outside our regular takeaway shop and this car was in front of us.
"We saw this thing on the back window. My wife was shocked and said 'what is that?' ... It was a rabbit. She said 'that's not real is it?' I said yeah that's a real rabbit.
"My wife was disturbed by it. She was close to being physically sick. Before we got the chance to approach them a female came out from a shop, jumped into the car and drove off."
Browning jumped out of the car for a closer inspection, confirming the animal was a dead rabbit.
After processing what had happened, he took a closer look at who was in the car. But before he or his wife could approach those in the car, a woman entered the driver's seat and drove off.
Browning says he reported the incident to the SPCA.
While he doesn't know who was behind the act, he says the treatment of the animal is "unforgivable".
"I don't know whether someone else had put it there and the driver didn't know or whether the people from the car had put it there thinking they were funny.
"It didn't look like it had been run over. It looked like someone had killed a rabbit and stuck it on the back window and drove down the main street of Pukekohe for something to do.
"It made me feel physically sick to see it. What if a child had seen that? If it's visually disturbing for an adult imagine what impact it would have on an impressionable child. It was disgusting.
"The rabbit was dead but it didn't deserve this unforgivable treatment. It's not a laughing matter. It's visually and morally wrong."
Other locals also spoke out about the incident, with some calling the act "sadistic".
"That's sick. That kind of behaviour is beyond inappropriate. Sadistic to say the least," one said.
Another wrote: "Humans are dicks though, I don't see what is funny about treating a dead animal like that regardless of how it died, pest or not."
However, others believe there is a responsible explanation for it, with one local saying it could have very well been roadkill while others suggested it could have been taken away to be taxidermied.
The SPCA has been contacted for comment.