Dog shot with spear gun south of Cairns

Another reminder to confine and desex your dog in the Cairns Post recently.  A man shot a dog with a spear gun after it had been hanging around his property for 2 weeks.   The Great Dane cross had been attracted by his 9 month old bitch which was on heat.
Clearly it is never appropriate to shoot a dog in such circumstances, but the whole even could have been avoided had both dogs been desexed and properly confined.
The speared dog underwent surgery and survived.  The man will appear in court again.

Dallas McMillan
Cairns Vet Clinic 
Read the best Cairns Vet advice and Cairns Pet news on the web.

Fear led man to spear dog

Melanie Petrinec

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

© The Cairns Post

 

A MAN who shot a spear into a Great Dane said a lack of sleep and fear of being attacked by the animal made him do it.

Self-confessed dog lover Graham Russell Bowden, appeared in the Innisfail Magistrates’ Court yesterday charged with one count of cruelty to animals.

The court heard that Innisfail police were called to a Mourilyan vet on October 22 where they found a Great Dane-bull mastiff cross with a 10cm spear protruding from its chest.

The dog lived, but needed surgery.

Mr Bowden admitted he shot the animal with a spear gun, but said when he did it he was lacking sleep and very distressed.

He said he feared for his life after the large dog entered his home.

He told the court he had had almost no sleep the night before as the dog had been wandering near his property and "banging against his house" for hours. He thought it was after his nine-month-old pup, which was on heat.

Mr Bowden said the animal had repeatedly come on to his property for the two weeks previous to the shooting.

He had asked the dog’s owner to restrain it, but the owner had not paid attention, Mr Bowden said.

He will appear in court again on January 4 for a summary mention.