An SPCA decision on the laying of charges over the killing of 33 dogs on a rural property north of Auckland is likely to take another week, the animal welfare organisation said today.
Police yesterday executed a search warrant on the Wellsford address, where the shooting took place on Monday, and seized a number of weapons.
A spokesman said that police had not laid charges but had not ruled out the possibility.
Auckland SPCA chief executive Bob Kerridge said his organisation was continuing to work through the process before making its decision on charges under the Animal Cruelty Act.
He said the SPCA was waiting for all results from post-mortem examinations of 10 of the dogs to come in and it would interview witnesses and those involved in the shooting next week.
It would be about Friday, "when we will sit down and have a look at where we are at".
Mr Kerridge said the necropsy results were likely to show the degree of stress and suffering the dogs went through and in some cases might be able to gauge how long it took them to die.
The animals were on Russell Hargreaves' property when two men, Russell Mendoza and Tony Campbell, allegedly arrived and used a .22 calibre rifle and shotgun to shoot them.
Mr Mendoza had blamed one or more of them for mauling his fox terrier, which later died.
Mr Kerridge said the public reaction to the incident had been "huge".
The public nowadays was much more conscious of animal welfare, but the number of dogs in this case represented "a different dimension of slaughter", he said.
"That's what they cannot understand. That's why they're so incensed."
