When thieves invade a home, forcing the occupants to barricade themselves into a room is a traumatic event. The when the victims come out after the thieves have left, only to discover that their beautiful 12 week old puppy has been slaughtered is beyond belief. What sort of brain is behind such an act of cruelty? What excuses or 'explanation' will these young people (they were teenagers!) give top the Youth Court when they appear----if indeed they do? It begs the question as to what would have happened to the occupants if they had come into physical contact with the thieves. There is a great deal of research linking those who harm animals with actions that hurt people. Yes, these young people need help, but they also need to face up to their actions. My heart goes out to the people who have had to deal with this 'double blow.' www.authorneilcoleman.com
Neighbours say 12-week-old Milo was "a beautiful little puppy".
Three young people could be heard urging a terrified man to come outside and talk to them before they smashed their way into his home and killed a 12-week-old puppy.
The attack, on Torrington Cres in the Auckland suburb of Glen Innes, occurred during what police have called a "half-hour crime spree" by a group of teenagers on Monday night.
Vaikalafi Tufi, 26, heard a noise outside about 9.30pm and thought it was someone on his property. He looked outside and saw three young men climbing over the fence into the neighbour's yard. At the same time his brother-in-law Falakiko Sanalio heard noises coming from next door. Vaikalafi Tufi who tackled one of the Glen Innes burglars to the ground. Photo / Chris Gorman"We had no idea what was going on, but it sounded like they were trying to get in ... They said 'can you come outside and talk'," Mr Sanalio said. Soon after he heard what sounded like "punching the wall" from inside the house.
A father of three children, aged 9, 8 and 4, locked himself and his family in a room after the intruders forced their way in by smashing a glass door. When the family emerged they found their purebred brown labrador, Milo, had been killed.
Two attackers got away but the third was caught by Mr Tufi who, with Mr Sanalio's help, held him until police arrived.
"He was saying, 'Can you let me go, I didn't do anything, it has nothing to do with me'."
Mr Sanalio's wife, Salote, saw the shocked couple come outside. The woman was crying. "I felt so sorry for them, I can't imagine it ... It was a beautiful little puppy - and they killed it."
A 16-year-old youth will appear in the Auckland Youth Court tomorrow charged with two counts of unlawfully being on a property. By Andrew Koubaridis@A_KoubaridisEmail Andrew
I am starting to wonder when the weight-loss will stop. I am down to 82 kilos and still dropping. I know that I have had it really easy, compared to others and I guess that’s just because we are all different. I know that this pathway is not for everyone and even I would have rather done it another way, but having tried lots of those ‘ways,’ I settled on my own pathway.
I am finding that three meals a day just doesn’t fit for me. I can’t eat much and I find that I don’t necessarily get enough into me, especially the minerals, hence the need for supplements. I am thinking that I should make up veggie and a little bit of fruit add/juices to help with that. I am also adding snacks, in the form of nuts, dried beans and other ‘protein-containing foods.
The overall judgment so far?
Hell, it won’t be long before I can throw away nearly all of my medication. Sleep Apnoea has gone, blood pressure--- excellent, diabetes type 2----- clear and cholesterol—normal You could say that I have never been healthier; at least not in the past 30 years.
Is Fonterra just too damned big? One can only wonder, given the vents of the last few days. That Fonterra had a smidgeon of knowledge way back in March that something was not quite right does indicate that there is ‘trouble at the mill.’
The NZ Government’s reaction to this on-going crisis of confidence has been swift and for one the politicians are not (so far0 trying to make political capital out of what could very easily derail the New Zealand economy.
China and Russia have reacted very quickly to the ‘doubt surrounding’ New Zealand’s clean green image and that also could spread, depending on what happens over the next few days. The fact that both countries have safety issues of their own is conveniently ignored while they heap ‘blame and suspicion’ onto all New Zealand food products. ‘Contamination’ is an emotive and very real issue of course, so I am not trying to do what I accuse the Russian and Chinese Governments of doing---shifting the focus from other issues.
The bottom line for Fonterra and New Zealand’s overall image is that food production standards must be above reproach and that when things go wrong, there must be robust strategies to find the problem and correct it whilst at the same time ensures that information that could keep people safe is not withheld.
Fonterra needs to take a long hard look at itself and not rely on what has been a long successful experience in the huge dairy industry. The directors and boards that control Fonterra are in for a hard time once the dust settles on this extremely difficult time for New Zealand. We need many of our companies to take this experience as a learning curve about the competitive world of trade, image and politics.
Three young people could be heard urging a terrified man to come outside and talk to them before they smashed their way into his home and killed a 12-week-old puppy.
