Kids battered dog with sticks

Lisa Gray & Mike Keegan

April 24, 2008

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Meg has to wear a special collar.

THE RSCPA is investigating claims that a group of young children savagely beat a puppy to within an inch of its life.

The four and five-year-olds are said to have `repeatedly battered' the quivering pup with sticks until they were disturbed by a passer-by.

Animal welfare officers say it is `the worst case they have ever seen'.

The 10-week-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, known as `Meg', needed lifesaving surgery after the attack on fields close to Heywood's Darnhill estate.

Vets say she now faces a grim battle to save one of her legs and still `whimpers with pain'.

The passer-by, who didn't want to be named, said he saw the gang attacking something with sticks.

He said he was stunned to find it was a quivering puppy. He chased the youngsters off before taking Meg to Rochdale RSPCA centre.

Staff there say it is the most shocking incident of animal cruelty they have ever seen.

Manager Jean Spencer said: "The man came here straight from picking her up. He was in two minds whether to catch the children or rescue the puppy."

Stunned

Jean said she was stunned by the attack, which happened last Tuesday at about 4pm.

"The age of the children makes it absolutely sickening - they should know the difference between right and wrong.

"I can't say what has happened to them and who has told them to behave like this. Perhaps they've seen an older person kicking a dog. If they're behaving like this aged four and five imagine what they will be like when they are 14 and 15."

Jean has adopted Meg, who is thought to be a stray.

Because of the extent of her injuries, she is recovering in a cage for her own safety and faces an anxious six-week wait to see if her leg has been saved.

Jean said: "She's absolutely gorgeous. A little sweetie - and I don't know how anyone could do that to her.

"She's very upset and regularly whimpers with pain. All she wants is to be hugged, kissed and cared for. It's beyond belief how children of this age could have brought themselves to hurt her."

She said staff are trying to trace the Good Samaritan for a further description of Meg's attackers.

Anyone who witnessed the attack is asked to call Rochdale RSPCA on 01706 861897.

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Grief Tourist, Tameside (24/04/2008 at 06:40)

What a vile country this is.

PW, Manchester (24/04/2008 at 07:50)

Perhaps the most effective lesson would be for the kids to experience this from the dog's angle.

I wouldn't make a 100% blanket judgement, but a lot of things tell me there's something very wrong with a lot of children and teenagers today. Many just want to be horrible and obnoxious, while some are even weird enough to take part in suicide pacts. Makes me shudder. Someone is bringing them up like this.

ace, manchester (24/04/2008 at 09:19)

And yet more monsters that we have (children) the next move will be a pensioner for these monsters.This is why we need to control these children in their schools and control their parents .Bring back the birch and the strap in our schools and the death penalty for murder.This sort of thing will not stop until we control these kids from a early age...I never remember children doing this when i was a child.

The Rt Hon Dr Rev MC Spanner MP QC FCA FRICS JP OK (24/04/2008 at 10:20)

Ace,

How about 40 lashes? Maybe waterboarding or even cattleprods.

For Heaven's sake these children are 4 or 5 years old. This is their parents fault for not teaching them right from wrong.

You are no better than these kids if you advocate torturing young children to keep them in line.

Oops I forgot that in your New World Order we would all be kept in line.

alvinlwh (24/04/2008 at 10:26)

The passerby was lucky that the gang did not turn on him instead.

Lucy Palmer (24/04/2008 at 10:35)

Anyone with a heart would look at this gorgeous little puppy's face and welcome it into the world, not traumatise it for life. It's terrifying to think children that young could be so brutal. Hopefully she'll make a full recovery and find a loving home.

sledge (24/04/2008 at 11:23)

todays animal abusers are tomorrows child abusers, these kids parents are probably already abusing them, very sad!!

Pippa, Manchester (24/04/2008 at 11:43)

This is a very sad reflection on today's society as a whole. Several questions are raised - A puppy doesn't just appear, and I am given to understand that Staffy pups are quite expensive. Thus why hasn't this poor creature been missed? If it has been missed, why hasn't it been reported? If the owner knows what has happened to it, what is the connection to the children and so on to the question what on earth do the parents of these children teach them? It is very well known that the torture of insects, then animals leads into the torture of other human beings. Is this what we want for our future? I certainly don't, but the authorities don't seem to realise that this is what is happening, slowly but very surely. Hopefully, I should have died before this "brave new world" comes to pass.

sinnikal, Manchester (24/04/2008 at 11:58)

oh my god, why aren't parents teaching their kids about respect? maybe these kids are beaten repeatedly to an inch of their lives so they think it is alright to do the same to a vulnerable animal.

poor puppy. how sad.

littlemancminx (24/04/2008 at 12:30)

Where were the parents when this was happening these digusting children should be beatn in public with sticks!

Grief Tourist, Tameside (24/04/2008 at 12:32)

I read today that violence against babies and children in England has doubled in the past year. That 'discipline' thing is really working, eh?

ace, manchester (24/04/2008 at 13:54)

The Rt Hon Dr Rev MC Spanner MP QC FCA FRICS JP OK
No but in your world the kids would be allowed to murder their parents and kill whatever they want ,and also take something they want without paying.liberal thinkers need shooting..and ill pay for the amunition..So in your mind you can only bargaric to humans..

Jo (24/04/2008 at 14:03)

Ace, it's absolute drivel that children were never cruel to animals in years gone by. My mother is her sixties and she remembers getting into a fight as a child with some kids who were tying fireworks to a stray dog's tail, and my father, also in his sixties, remembers his next door neighbours' kids drowning their cat's kittens on a regular basis.

The kids that beat this dog shouldn't even have been out wandering the streets at the age of four or five. Their parents obviously haven't taught them any social responsibility or any respect for other living things. All these kids have ever been taught is violence.

jomov, Manchester (24/04/2008 at 14:23)

Grief Tourist - where have you been the past 20 years or so....discipline? What's that?

The Rt Hon Dr Rev MC Spanner MP QC FCA FRICS JP OK (24/04/2008 at 19:35)

Ace,

bargaric???? Is that a German word.

So - you want to torture children & shoot liberals.

Maybe we should teach goose-stepping and give them brown uniforms. That will give them discipline.

laura lynch (24/04/2008 at 20:48)

why are four/ five year olds out on their own,
I SMELL A RAT, maybe the man who found her did the damage and was not bright enough to come up with a good excuse.

ace, manchester (24/04/2008 at 21:17)

The Rt Hon Dr Rev MC Spanner MP QC FCA FRICS JP OK
If it stops this cruelty to animals and people yes i would do anything to control these monsters we have in britain.

City78, Failsworth (24/04/2008 at 22:11)

Ace am with you 100%. Lets hope what goes around comes around.

Society has always had its scum bags but they used to be few and far between. Nowadays they are on every street and in every area.

The demise of this country over the last 10 years seriously depresses me. Oh and i'm only 29 Jo and Rt Rev.

Grief Tourist, Tameside (24/04/2008 at 22:48)

People still hit their kids (and psychologically abuse them) as the report about assaults on babies and children doubling prove. Are you trying to tell me there was no violence when we had the cane and borstals? I myself was caned but still had a violent youth. Violence breeds violence. The basic problem is that all the wrong people are procreating!

Careless Whisper (24/04/2008 at 22:53)

Back when I was a kid,I never heard of them as young as this beating dogs with sticks. Sadly the craze then was to put a straw up a frogs bum and blow it up. Mindless morons.

BluePolarBear, ex of Stockport (25/04/2008 at 01:16)

In defence of Ace,(not that he is asking for anyone to defend him),his aim is for a decent society,where sickening acts like this don't happen.
I personally am not a fan of corporal punishment,i've known it administered to kids who grew up very violent.Equally,I want a decent society,which is what Ace wants.He may talk about shooting liberals,but speaking as a bit of a lefty,(not the greedy ,posh, detached type who pass as leftwing these days), I can't disagree too much with anyone who gets angry at the vile actions of such bullies.

moneypenny (25/04/2008 at 03:11)

Nothing makes me more appaulled than animal abuse ,,, and those Little SICKO,S I fear for HUMANITY ,,, What are they teaching these future monsters , Name the Parents ,,, Unbelievable ,, When I was a kid of 3yrs theres a video of me petting a dog and putting my arms around him ,, the dog was a complete stranger to me Man,s Best Friend ,,

From Oldham (25/04/2008 at 08:11)

MC Spanner - perhaps we should get these kids and give them a great big group hug and send them to Disneyworld, the poor little babies; or perhaps you could have them stay with you in your world for a couple of months - I bet it's nice there.

mahavishnu bbz, bury (25/04/2008 at 10:48)

Sterilize the masses, eradicate these damaged goods, they will only grow to suck welfare from the decent.
Its time for people who know what right and wrong is to exact some justice, lets start hunting down the dregs of society and dispose of them.

"But they're only 5 years old!" - yes, and in less than a decade they'll be taking weapons to you and your loved ones, and worse still, they'll be breeding more of the same.

The police are powerless, law-makers are socially detached and clueless, there is only the public left. Take your country back while you still can.

suge, mancs (25/04/2008 at 11:06)

somebody please give ace a gun with 1 bullet so he can put himself out of his misery PLEASE! the world won't miss him i promise

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