Dog shot with pellet gun, resulting in death
Woodburn, NSW (AU)Incident Date: Tuesday, Aug 15, 2006
Disposition: Not Charged
Abuser names unreleased
Woodburn dad Ross Clissold is demanding justice be brought to the hunter who killed his dog on a camping trip on Aug 15.
The family's Kelpie cross, Tas, died the next morning with five pellets in his head and one in his leg in a case the RSPCA is currently investigating.
The case follows discussions in Parliament last week week, when recreational hunting in state forests to cull feral animals came under fire from the Greens political party.
"I bought the dog two-and-a-half years ago as a companion for my kids and in my opinion (the hunter) has done a very wrong thing," Mr Clissold said.
"This bloke claims he was out there shooting rabbits but there aren't any rabbits there. "To be honest, I could've been shot."
Mr Clissold had been camping at the Double Duke State forest, south of Woodburn, and bought Tas along as a companion in a dog-friendly area.
He set up the campsite at 11am and used a chainsaw to cut some firewood.
About 15 minutes later he let Tas off the chain to throw a stick for him.
"His ears pricked up and he alerted me to something in the bush, then he cleared off and I yelled at him to come back," Mr Clissold said.
"About 10 seconds later I heard a shot loud and close and I jumped up and then the dog came running into the campsite, shot, and hid under the trailer."
Mr Clissold found the source of the shot - a North Coast man holding a shot gun, about 40 metres away and told him what he had done.
According to Mr Clissold, the hunter replied he hadn't seen the camp site and that the dog was coming at him in a vicious manner.
"That made me extremely agitated."
After taking his gaming licence number and registration, Mr Clissold took Tas to the vet and called the RSPCA but Tas died at 7.30am the next morning.
Mr Clissold was then faced with the trying task of breaking the news to his four kids, aged 10 to 16, who couldn't understand why their pet was dead.
NSW greens upper house MP, Ian Cohen, said Mr Clissold's case was a worrying example of the consequences of the decision.
"This absolutely verifies the concerns we have raised with the minister," he said.
"Generally speaking, these people are not very well trained.
"What could be more irresponsible than shooting a pet in a public area?"
The Greens party recently passed a resolution to call on the Government to disband the Game Council altogether.
Les Wilkes, secretary of the Northern Zone Hunting Club, declined to comment on Mr Clissold's case but said hunters in State forests had every right to be there.
"It's a proven method of eradicating feral animals and hunters undergo training and testing to get that licence," he said.
"We are all trained, expert hunters and I don't know where they (the Greens) are coming from." References
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