Dogs beaten to death, tied and dumped

By Melissa Donchi
TWO dogs have been discovered beaten to death and bound together in a bag along the Kooweerup Road in Healesville.
Now the person who made the discovery is calling on local lawmakers to crack down on animal cruelty.
Elizabeth George from Healesville was walking with her 13-year-old son when they found the plastic bag containing at least two dogs entwined within.
“We were speechless that anyone would go to such lengths to get rid of a pet,” Ms George said.
“Abandoning a pet is one thing but tying them up and throwing them away like rubbish is something else.”
Ms George, a former zookeeper and now a volunteer wildlife carer, was shocked to find the dogs had suffered serious head injuries.
“The rest of the bodies were identifiable but their heads had been quite literally bashed in,” she said.
Ms George said this type of behaviour affected the whole community.
“If there are people here that behave like that towards animals then we have to wonder how they treat their families.
“Does this type of violent and sick behaviour extend to humans as well?”
Senior Constable Dean Wolf from the Croydon Crime Desk agreed that it was a concerning incident for the police. “The person who did this would face a charge of aggravated cruelty, which is any action that results in severe injury or death to an animal,” he said.
“We are very concerned about people who behave violently towards animals because they can move on to human offences.”
The maximum penalty for a charge of aggravated cruelty is a substantial fine or a prison sentence but Senior Constable Wolf said this is was extremely rare.
“The Cruelty to Animals Act hasn’t been updated since 1986, which doesn’t really reflect community attitudes any more,” he said.
“It’s also very hard to prove a case of animal cruelty because people who bash their pets aren’t the type of owners who get them registered or microchipped,” he said.
Animal Aid manager Debra Bowland said there needed to be more checks in place for owning a pet.
“At the moment anyone can walk into a pet shop, buy an animal and do what they like with it,” Ms Bowland said.
“Clearly not everyone is suited to owning an animal and there needs to be some kind of system in place to protect animals from these people.”
But with no preventative laws in place, Ms Bowland said animals would continue to be at the mercy of their owners until something was done.