Bull Arab puppy Rex, right, with the Talaraha and Anthony's other puppy Diesel.
Bull Arab puppy Rex, right, with the Talaraha and Anthony's other puppy Diesel. Contributed

Puppy brutally murdered while owner at dinner

NECK snapped, head caved in with wounds on his neck is how owners Talaraha Daley and Anthony Staveley found their puppy Bull Arab.

On Australia Day, the couple left their home in the early evening for a birthday dinner, returning to their Lawrence home the following day to only two of their three dogs greeting them at the gate.

"We came back at about 10.30-11am, usually our three dogs wait at the fence for us but only two of them came to the fence," Ms Daley said.

"We were singing out for the third one, Rex. We had a look around for him and my partner found his collar around the back of the house.

"We came up on the verandah and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him laying on the ground in front of the house, dead."

Ms Daley said they thought maybe Rex had been attacked by a dingo or a dog, but when they went to bury him, they noticed blood on their shovel.

"The shovel had moved from where we'd left it," she said.

"There was a large amount of blood on it. We moved some plants and stuff from that area, and we found a lot of blood there. It was about a metre from where the pup was lying."

At first they didn't get in contact with police, but after posting it on Facebook, a police officer from Coffs/Clarence Local Area Command contacted them.

"We'd had a look around and asked a couple of our neighbours, they said they'd heard barking but didn't think much of it," Ms Daley said.

"He's a nice little dog, he wouldn't harm a bloody fly!

"It's quite disturbing to come home to something like that, to be honest I feel disgusted and very sad. It shouldn't have happened to such a nice little pup."

Police are investigating the matter. Coffs/Clarence Local Area Command were unable to comment on the matter.