Animal cruelty

Far North SPCA inspectors are appalled after discovering the body of a cat shot seven times in the head with a nail gun.

A former New Zealand Kennel Club dog-show judge and his wife have been banned from owning or caring for animals for 20 years.

Dunedin police are seeking any witnesses to an incident in which two boys apparently set fire to a hedgehog, killing it.

A short-haired tabby kitten was found starved and with its ears trimmed in Waikouaiti last week, bringing to six the number of mutilated cats found in the town.

The torture of two kittens has angered Waikouaiti police, who are determined to track down those responsible.

An investigation into the possible poisoning of pigeons and other birds in the Exchange area of Dunedin has failed to find the source of the reported deaths.

Conditions in a pilot scheme touted as the egg industry's future are not much better than standard battery hen cages, animal welfare advocates say.

Cooped up in a cage for a month as a protest, Carl Scott says he's still better off than battery hens.

Rewards of more than $14,000 are on offer for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the clubbing death of 23 fur seals near Kaikoura.

The slaughter of 23 seals at the colony near Kaikoura this week has horrified locals and police, as well as the nation but it is not an isolated incident.