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A new version of events is emerging about the massacre of 33 dogs on a property north of Auckland last week.
Russell Mendoza and Tony "Tussock" Campbell allegedly entered the Wellsford property of Rowan Hargreaves on Monday and shot 23 puppies and 10 dogs using a .22 rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun, because they believed one of them killed Mr Mendoza's fox terrier Otis.
Hargreaves had said he felt intimidated by the pair.
However, Campbell's flatmate, Maree Davidson, claims a friend of Hargreaves had repeatedly asked the men to help Hargreaves kill the dogs, which he could no longer control.
Hargreaves denies this.
Davidson has told the Sunday News that when Campbell and Mendoza went to Hargreaves' property they were shocked by the state of his pets, which were in poor health and hygiene.
"Tony was sick. He actually vomited at the state of those pups. He said they had no water, no ventilation," she says.
The killings stunned police and SPCA officers who arrived at the scene.
"I would liken it to a gung-ho on a bloody, rifle-killing frenzy," says Senior Constable Barry Rose.
On Friday, police executed a search warrant at the scene of the killings and seized a number of weapons.
They are still considering whether to lay charges.
Auckland SPCA chief executive Bob Kerridge says his organisation is continuing to work through the process before making its decision on charges under the Animal Cruelty Act.
He says the SPCA is waiting for all results from post-mortem examinations of 10 of the dogs to come in and it would interview witnesses and those involved in the shooting this week.
A decision on charges is not likely before Friday.
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