POLICE say they need help to find the killers of two beagle puppies — a crime that has sickened the Border.
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“Someone out there knows who did this and we need them to contact us,” Inspector Tony Moodie, of Albury, said yesterday.
The weekend brought no breakthrough in the investigation, after the dogs were found dead by their owner, suspended from a metal rafter in his garage on Friday.
The incident has shaken residents of Danes Street, Lavington, where the crime took place.
A neighbour yesterday said she was still in shock over what had happened.
The dogs were a male and female, aged less than five months old.
Alison Williams said she had often seen the puppies playing in the yard next door.
She said the dogs were so well behaved and quiet some neighbours didn’t realise they lived there.
“They weren’t annoying, they didn’t bark — they didn’t seem vicious or anything,” Ms Williams said.
“I’m in a bit of shock — they were such beautiful little dogs.”
Their owner, too distressed to talk to the media, has released a photograph.
Ms Williams said she knew the owner loved the puppies because she would regularly see him playing with them.
Police are still looking for a motive for the crime.
Monash University psychologist Eleonora Gullone said researchers had identified nine likely “motivations” for animal cruelty, including a revenge or retaliation attack directed at an owner.
But whatever drove the person responsible for the killing, Associate Professor Gullone said the attacker had gone to an unacceptable extreme,
and was likely to have pathological and psychopathic leanings.
“Lots of people have disputes, it happens all the time, but we don’t resort to this behaviour,” she said.
“People that do these sort of things have dangerous tendencies, you don’t want to meet this person in a dark alley at night.”
It is a view shared by those who posted their messages of distress and disgust on
“I hope the owner reads these posts and understands the depth of emotion people feel about what has happened,” said a person who posted under the name So Wrong.
“I am so very sorry for his loss. I can’t imagine it. I have a dog but let’s face it, you don’t need to be a dog owner to empathise.
“I’m inclined to make threats about what I’d do if I caught someone who did this to my dog.”