Two appalling animal cruelty incidents – the decapitation of a cat and 40 rabbits killed by being stomped on – have marred the start of the New Year in Victoria.
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The cat was decapitated and dumped on the front lawn of a house in Bayview Avenue, The Basin, in Melbourne's outer east, around New Year's Eve.
Police believe the black-and-white cat was dumped at the house between midday on December 31 and midday on January 1.
The cat was not microchipped and police have not been able to find its owner.
“This was a horrific way to treat an animal and very distressing for the owner of the property to have found,” said Senior Constable Nick MacDonald, from Boronia Police Station.
Also on New Year's Day, a woman near the Gippsland town of Garfield was horrified to discover 40 of her rabbits had been stomped to death.
She went into a shed on the Nar Nar Goon-Longwarry Road farm about 3am and made the grisly discovery.
Many of the rabbits were still warm, leading police to believe the incident occurred between midnight and 3am.
The white rabbits were bred on the property to be sold commercially and were not pets.
The animals were prone to scratching people so those responsible may have been injured, said police.
Detectives from Cardinia Crime Investigation Unit are investigating.
Anyone with information about either incident is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
