An animal control officer wants the person who shot a puppy 10 times with an air gun to be banned from ever owning an animal again.
The dog - less than three months old - was found at a property in Whatawhata on Thursday after reports of a "stray dog living under someone's cabin", said Waikato Animal Control team leader Tracey Oakes.
She was lured out from under the house with food, and officers noticed she had pellets in her face and muzzle.
Oakes told The AM Show on Monday it was a horrific experience for the officer who responded to the call.
"The officer that picked the dog up, he thought about it all weekend. It really shook the animal control team. The puppy's doing well - it's in the care of the SPCA, as it is a welfare case - and seems to be recovering well."
Air guns only hold one pellet at a time, so it would have taken some time for the awful attack to have played out.
"We think the dog was tied up, to be able to get that many bullets into the dog, and that so many were in the dog's face," said Oakes.
It's up to the SPCA to lay charges under the Animal Welfare Act 1999, if it sees fit. Oakes said personally, the person who did it shouldn't be allowed to own a dog "for an extended period of time, and possibly as an animal owner.
"They shouldn't have animals in their care."
Newshub has contacted SPCA to see if they have plans to prosecute - that is, if they find out who did it.
Leaflets have been placed in neighbouring letterboxes in the hunt for the culprit.
Counselling has been offered to staff involved in the case.
