A DOG-OWNER has been left terrified after her pet was allegedly targeted for use in dog fighting.
Federal Square resident Georgia Barr on Thursday left her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel at home where between 9am and 12pm Thursday about half the dog’s ear was removed.
‘Akira’ was otherwise left unharmed and Ms Barr notified police. Later her suspicion grew upon noticing a white mark had been spray painted on her driveway.
“I didn’t think too much of it, told the police. Then I found the paint later on and… that’s what they do to mark your property,” she said.
Ms Barr believes Akira was marked as potential “warm up” for larger, more aggresive breeds involved in a dog fighting ring.
She initially sounded the alarm on Facebook, where her warning to other dog owners was shared about 150 times.
She urged other local dog owners to take the threat seriously, after a similar incident in Perth was revealed to be a hoax.
“People are saying it’s a hoax, but why would someone do that as a joke, what’s it achieving?
“What I’m personally doing now is locking the gates and taking extra precautions at the back gate so it’s not so easily accessible and [Akira] won’t be at the house for the time being,” she said.
Ms Barr said police detectives had been notified.
She said there were no known suspects, but when her partner returned to the home at 12pm Thursday he “thought he saw someone in our yard, but didn’t think anything of it”.
In February last year the RSPCA announced it would investigate dog fighting rings in Victoria.
