© Fairfax NZShocking Cruelty: Chocky the pet lamb survived having his throat slashed in what appears to have been an attack.
A pair of pet lambs have been mutilated - one so badly it had to be put down - in what appears to have been an attack by a drunken party-goer.
The attack, which happened sometime on Thursday night at a property in Matamata, has sickened police and traumatised two children who were planning to enter the lambs in their school's agricultural day. On the night of the attack, Jamie and Karen Nicholls had noticed the lambs were more unsettled than usual, because of a party happening next door.
"We really didn't think anything of it," Mrs Nicholls said.
It wasn't until the morning, when the children went out to feed Raspberry and Chocky that they realised something was wrong.
"Our kids came running in saying Raspberry had blood all over him," she said.
"We thought a dog might have got into their enclosure, but the vet confirmed the lambs had been attacked by a person."
Raspberry had been stabbed half a dozen times. His right thigh bone was broken and the skin around his mouth had been ripped from the bone. He was so severely injured, he had to be put down. The other lamb, Chocky, had his throat cut, but was able to be stitched up by the vet.
Matamata Veterinary Services veterinarian Chris Hutchings, tended to the lambs and said it was obvious that the injuries sustained were not from a dog attack.
"Dogs tend to tear and rip. It was very clear that the lambs were stabbed and cut with a sharp object," he said.
He said he had never seen such cruelty inflicted on an animal in his 30-year career.
Comment: See also: dumbed down Time magazine covers