Murdered pup’s skull shattered in ‘worst cruelty case’ vet has seen
Injuries suffered by a murdered five-month-old Northern Beaches puppy — a chocolate labrador named Coco — have been described as the worst a veterinarian of 37 years has ever seen. SEE THE X-RAY
NSW
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In nearly 40 years as a vet, Mark Campbell has never seen animal cruelty like the violent bludgeoning that killed five-month-old chocolate labrador Coco in her owners’ backyard.
The pup was found dead when the family’s two young boys returned from school to their house in Freshwater on the northern beaches this week.
With few visible signs of trauma, they had no idea of the extent of her injuries until Coco was taken to Dr Campbell. His X-rays revealed a shattered skull.
“It’s a tremendous amount of force needed to create those injuries,” he said.
“The only other injuries we see in here like that are dogs that have been hit by cars.”
Dr Campbell said he and his colleague Helen Archibald were disturbed by what they saw.
“I’ve been a vet for 37 years and this is the worst case of animal cruelty both of us have ever seen,” he said.
“If you tried to define the least threatening animal in the world, it’s a five-month-old labrador.”
Coco’s owners Lee Armstrong and Maria O’Carroll and their 10 and 11-year-old sons have been left devastated by the violent intrusion into their backyard by someone who beat her with skull-shattering force.
Mr Armstrong said neither he nor his children felt safe in their home.
“If someone breaks into a yard and kills a pup, what are they going to do if a kid’s there?” he said.
“What are they going to do with my son?
“Would you let your children go home unsupervised if somebody’s murdered your dog?
“We’re a community and it feels like all those freedoms are gone.”
Mr Armstrong said the boys can’t sleep at night.
Both were besotted with Coco and would wake early to play with her and had taken on all the responsibilities of owning a puppy.
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Police are treating Coco’s death extremely seriously, with teams of officers and forensics spending days meticulously combing through the family’s backyard and gathering evidence.
Dr Archibald was the first to discover the extent of Coco’s injuries at Harbord Veterinary Hospital and said she’s still haunted by what she saw.
“There was no trauma to the skin but the force had pushed her eyes out and made her bite through her tongue,” she said.
“They didn’t mean to hurt it, they meant to kill it.”
Originally published as Murdered pup’s skull shattered in ‘worst cruelty case’ vet has seen