Men charged over Scotsburn burglary that left family puppy injured

Police have charged two teenagers with aggravated burglary and theft in relation to an incident in Scotsburn that left a family puppy seriously injured.

Several “cowardly and callous” robbers allegedly snuck onto two west Victorian properties, crippling a 15-week-old puppy, leaving four children “devastated”, and frightening an elderly woman.

Family dog Pippa, a golden Labrador owned by Scotsburn residents Charlie and Lizzie Groves, was an early Christmas gift for the couple’s children.

But during the week, the “pretty naughty” but “gorgeous” pup ended up at the vet with severe injuries, including broken legs and a dislocated hip.

Her home is a property on Yuulong Rd, which police believe several offenders entered, in two separate cars, just after 3am on October 26.

They allegedly stole four dirt bikes worth more than $18,000 and either ran over or physically beat innocent Pippa, fleeing the scene half an hour later.

15-week-old Labrador Pippa was senselessly injured in an aggravated burglary at Scotsburn.

When Mr Groves woke up to get wood for the fire he discovered the doors to his sheds were open and realised he had been robbed.

At first he thought young Pippa was missing or stolen, but about 9am he found her under a trailer.

He said she whined with pain as he held her.

“She'd been either hit by them with their vehicle or bashed or kicked and they’ve done serious injuries to her and broken her back leg in three places and broken her hip, popped her hip out,” Mr Groves said.

“At this stage they're tossing up whether she's going to get taken to Melbourne (to have) some operations: whether she loses her leg or two legs or what happens, it's all up in the air at the moment.”

He said Pippa “wouldn't have a bad bone in her body” and probably approached the robbers thinking it was play time.

The poor pup’s vet costs are expected to be between $5000 and $15,000.

“So you need to draw a line if it’s actually worth it, or if she’s going to lose both her rear legs, there’s no point living in that sort of way,” Mr Groves said.

Scotsburn residents Charlie and Lizzie Groves are facing vet costs of up to $15,000 after their puppy was run over or beaten during a burglary at their home.

Ms Groves said her four children, all aged under 10, were “devastated” by the suffering of their companion.

Police believe the same offenders were responsible for an aggravated burglary at an adjacent property within the same hour, in which an 82-year-old woman woke to an intruder in her home.

They allegedly fled that property in a stolen white Toyota HiLux.

Inspector Bob Heaney called the injury of Pippa a “cowardly and callous act”.

“The two concerning things for us is one, we’ve had an elderly victim sort of terrorised in her own home, and the serious offending to the dog, a little puppy dog, is a fairly cowardly and callous act,” he said.

“For the dog to be injured in such a way, the dog would have posed no threat as a guard dog – it’s 15 weeks old.

“For that to occur to the dog, it’s senseless, it’s cowardly.”

Pippa might have approached the offenders thinking it was play time.

Mr Groves was speechless for several moments when asked what he would say to the people who hurt an innocent animal and who he said will give his children nightmares “for the next few months”.

“There’s obviously some pretty ordinary people in the world, but there’s a lot more good people in the world and we’ll get through this,” he said.

A friend of the Groves family later set up a fundraiser to cover Pippa’s vet costs, which was closed upon reaching $12,935 in fewer than four days.

Although the fundraiser was established without the knowledge of Mr and Ms Groves, the couple said they were grateful for people’s compassion.

Police have since charged two 18-year-old Morwell men with aggravated burglary and theft, and a 20-year-old Wendouree man with unrelated theft of motor vehicle offences, both of whose matters will appear in Ballarat Magistrates Court.

Pippa recovering at home on Saturday. Photo: GoFundMe

It remains unknown exactly how Pippa was injured, but Mr Groves said she underwent an operation on the Friday afternoon following the incident.

“When they cut her open it was worse than they thought,” she said.

“But she’s going to be okay, they reckon.

“She’s not losing any legs. They said she’ll have a fair limp about her, but she’ll be pretty good, they’re saying.”

An update posted on GoFundMe the next day showed Pippa at home recovering.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.