Pet dog shot and dumped

A SWAN BAY woman is desperate to track down the ‘gutless’ person who brutally shot and killed her family’s dog, breaking the hearts of her three children.

The children, aged 5, 4 and 2, are ‘devastated’ at the loss of their pet, but have only been told that the dog, named Tomy, has run away.

“My husband had been out feeding the sheep on Sunday and the dog had been with him,” said the woman, who did not want to be named.

“When they got back, the dog went out for a little wander, like he usually does.

“But after half-an-hour he still hadn’t come back.

“It was getting dark.

“My husband went out and started calling and calling to the dog.”

In the end the family gave up and went to bed.

But in the morning, the woman made a gruesome discovery.

“He (the dog) had been thrown at the front gate. He was about four or five metres from it,” she said.

“He had a bullet hole in the head, right between the eyes.

“He’d been shot at point-blank range.

“It’s just awful that someone could do this.”

The woman said the dog was a working dog, but also a family pet.

He was not vicious, she said, and was ‘best mates’ with her four-year-old son.

“The kids are devastated,” she said.

“We couldn’t bring ourselves to tell them that their dog had been shot. We just said that he had run away.

“I can’t tell them the truth.

“We’d had Tomy for about four years.

“He was a massive part of our family, and this is not something that we would expect to happen in this neighbourhood.

“It’s animal cruelty. It’s just disgusting and disgraceful.

“There’s absolutely no need to treat an animal like that.”

The dog owner also said it was a ‘scary’ situation because the person who shot Tomy knew where they lived.

She said she didn’t feel safe at home any more.

“Nothing like this has happened to us before,” she said.

“Your dog is part of your family; he’s your best friend.”

The RSPCA’s Lismore-based officer, Alistair Hill, said the penalties for shooting and killing a dog for no reason could include a fine up to $22,000 and two years’ jail.

But he said the question had to be asked whether the dog might have been causing trouble on nearby farms.

“Legally, a farmer can shoot a dog on their property if it is harassing livestock,” Mr Hill said.

The incident happened in Reardons Lane at Swan Bay, west of Woodburn. To report any information, call Woodburn police on 6682 2444.