Rotting, earless cat on list of shame

CRUEL pet owners in Rotorua are being blacklisted as the SPCA gets tough on those who mistreat their animals.
The SPCA has released its annual "List of Shame", detailing 50 cases of animal abuse by humans.
Among the victims listed is a Rotorua cat discovered with no ears and a face half rotted away by cancer.
The neutered stray was found wandering the suburb of Fenton Park, unable to eat or drink.
The cat was put down in July after a local resident rang the SPCA.
Last month another cat was found in Rotorua with an air gun pellet lodged under its skin, near its throat.
The cat has been re-homed.
The SPCA wants residents to dob in neighbours they think could be mistreating animals so it can add them to a "blacklist" of people with a history of neglecting their pets.
Manager Nicola Martin suspects there are dozens more bad animal owners the SPCA doesn't yet know about but is keen to add to its list so it can keep an eye on them.
By reporting cases of neglect, she says the SPCA can "step in" to educate the people before the animals get so seriously injured or malnourished they need to be put down.
Also making the list was a Kawerau case in July involving two dogs shot in the head by a neighbour.
In March, Taupo police and the SPCA rescued a chihuahua locked inside a vehicle. The dog was dehydrated and distressed after being left in direct sunlight at a temperature of 23C.
The national List of Shame covers cases that occurred between January and September this year and has been released ahead of the SPCA's Paws Appeal week, which starts on Friday.
Among the worst cases nationally are a litter of puppies and a kitten found pickled in jars in a Dunedin flat, a goat stabbed to death while grazing on the roadside and eight Southland puppies beaten to death with a tyre brace.
Ms Martin said the local cases highlighted Rotorua's problem with animal neglect.
More than 80 per cent of complaints the SPCA received were cases of neglect, most involving dogs tied up on sections with no access to shelter, water or exercise.
Some owners were repeat offenders and the SPCA had a blacklist of people the organisation routinely visited. Many lived in Fordlands and Western Heights.
"A small number are the people who say 'it's my right to own it and do what I want'.
"Others involve people who just don't know how to own a dog properly and they respond well to help and education."
Fewer than six owners have been prosecuted by the Rotorua SPCA in the past 10 years.
Those cases involved cruelty to stock, failure to provide veterinary treatment and owners who, in separate cases, drowned a puppy and cut off its ears.
Sentences imposed included a mix of fines and community work.
Ms Martin said the cost of taking an owner to court was a major reason for the low number of prosecutions.
Court cases could take more than a year and unless the animal was re-homed, the SPCA had to pay to shelter and feed it during that time.
"We want to help the owner and their animal before it gets to that stage," she said.
"So if someone sees a dog getting no attention, we want them to ring us and we'll go and have a look.
"In the same way people are dobbing in child abusers, they should ring us for people who abuse their animals."
To raise money during Paws Appeal week, the Rotorua SPCA is holding a garage sale at its premises on Old Taupo Rd this Saturday.