Family pets slaughtered

By Alison Noonan
A CRANBOURNE family has been shocked by the barbaric slaughter of their farmyard pets for the second time in two years.
Anne Olierook said she stepped outside for her morning coffee on Monday to find the headless carcasses of her three chickens, duck and rabbit strewn across the backyard.
A second duck is missing.
Ms Olierook said she ushered her six and four-year-old children inside as memories of the gruesome killing of the family pets, almost two years ago to the date, flooded back.
“I went outside and saw the rabbit lying on the concrete. I immediately thought it had died because rabbits die very easily.
“Then I noticed it had no head,” she said.
“I walked to the chicken pen and I just knew they would be dead.”
Ms Olierook said her chickens were killed and the back fence set alight during the last incident.
“However, this time our neighbour’s fence was set alight later the same afternoon.
“I’m not sure if they’re connected,” she said.
Ms Olierook said the kids were devastated by the loss of their beloved pets after raising the ducks from birth.
“The death of the rabbit and the ducks affected them the most. They just cried.
“They were very attached to the ducks because they had watched them change and grow. We bought them as ducklings six weeks ago and raised them under lights in our garage,” she said.
Ms Olierook said she had no idea why anyone would want to harm her animals and believed the culprit to be another animal.
“Maybe I’m in denial, but I don’t think a person did this. I think it’s probably a fox.
“One chicken and the rabbit had lost their heads while the others looked like they had died of shock. None of our neighbours ever complained about the animals.
“They weren’t noisy and everyone got eggs from the chickens,” she said.
Ms Olierook said although the family was animal lovers, she would not replace the dead pets for fear of a recurrence.
She said she would instead grow a vegetable garden over the coop.
“I can’t do that to the kids again,” she said.
“They’ve seen so many dead animals it’s not funny.
“And my husband’s the poor person who has to clean up the mess.
“It’s just not fair. I’m sad for the animals. They didn’t deserve that.
“We went to a lot of effort, particularly with the ducks, who are smelly and need a lot of cleaning.
“It was a lot of work for that to happen,” she said.
Cranbourne police are investigating.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Detective Senior Constable Gary Emery at Cranbourne CIU on 5995 4577.