Residents of the Auckland suburb of Millwater have woken up horrified after learning "complete assholes deliberately" ran over geese early in the morning.
Local Stacey Campbell told Newshub her daughter came rushing into her bedroom on Sunday morning telling her nine geese had been killed at about 5am.
"I headed straight down to collect them as it is on the Orewa walkway and I didn't want people to have to see the carnage," she said.
"It was truly awful. People say it's just birds, but seriously, they are a local icon, and they are still living creatures that should be treated as such."
Campbell said CCTV footage neighbours took of the car has been forwarded to police.
"People want to see the driver identified and charged with animal cruelty or dangerous driving.
"I'm certainly a bit more nervous about my pets being near the road now. It's heartless, idiotic behaviour."
Campbell alerted a local community Facebook group about the incident and said it was a "deliberate" act.
"I haven't stopped crying. Have watched them grow up from teeny goslings. There are only four birds left now," she wrote in a post.
Campbell attached a photo showing rubbish bags she had filled with the dead animals.
Multiple people responded to her post and said the deaths were "so disgusting and heartbreaking".
"Absolutely pathetic, weak and cowardly individuals who think that they are cool but they are simply cowardly, ugly and sad, so very, very sad," one said.
"Those geese all have nests with babies. I really hope the a-hole responsible for this is caught and named," another wrote.
