The Northland thieves who burned two dogs alive returned to poison a third, says their owner.
Two days after the initial incident - which saw Chad Scrivener's ute stolen and set alight with his dogs in the back - he says the perpetrators returned to his family's property to inflict even more cruelty on their animals.
- Northland thieves set fire to stolen ute with dogs trapped inside
- Police warn against vigilante justice for Northland dog killers
"[We] got to our kennels where the dogs were healthy yesterday," Mr Scrivener, 22, told Newshub. "The closest one to the pines had been poisoned."
The dog is now being treated at a vet clinic in Kaitaia.
Mr Scrivener is clueless as to what motivated the thieves do something so brutal. He says he and his family have "a little idea" who the culprits are.
"I hope the cops catch them before we do."
Mr Scrivener and his brother Theo put three pig dogs in dog boxes on the tray of their Toyota Hilux on Friday night in preparation for a weekend hunting trip.
They then left the property to go to a party. Thieves rammed the gate and burgled the house, taking thousands of dollars' worth of hunting gear and cash.
After finding spare car keys in the house, the culprits took off in the Hilux, with the dogs still in the vehicle. They crashed the ute in a nearby paddock and torched the vehicle along with two of the dogs. A third dog managed to escape the fire and was later found on the road.
A friend recognised the burning ute and contacted Mr Scrivener, who had seen fire brigades heading to the scene. He says the dogs could be heard screaming loudly.
Mr Scrivener says he's "heartbroken" about the two animals that were killed.
"We don't care about the ute, but we loved those dogs," he told Newshub.
"We've put so much heart and love into those dogs that they go and burn them like that. How heartless are they?"
The community is shocked by the cruelty of the crime, with Mr Scrivener saying this is "the first thing ever like this" to happen in the Broadwood area.
He says many others in the community are on edge and concerned about the safety of themselves and their animals.
"It's plain evil what they've done," he told Newshub.
"They don't give a f**k about anything - and if they do that to dogs, what will they do to humans?"
Anyone who has any information about the incident is urged to contact Kaitaia Police Station on (09) 408 6500, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Newshub.
