3:31pm Sunday 6th July 2008
FOUR children have been quizzed by police after the sickening slaughter of more than 100 animals on an allotment.
Officers were called to Springfield allotments where they were met by the carnage of butchered geese, ducks, chickens, ferrets and goats.
It is believed the animals - including some rare breeds - were bludgeoned with blunt instruments.
Blood-soaked weapons, which included a crowbar, claw hammer, a three-pronged hoe - used with such force it had bent out of shape - and a garden rake, were found at the scene covered in feathers.
Allotment owner and animal fanatic Neil Porritt, 46, of Guisborough, said he still could not believe what happened.
He said: "Last Tuesday I got a phone call from a friend asking me to come to the allotment, in Rectory Lane, Guisborough.
"There were dead ducks, fluffy white chicks and goslings lying everywhere.
"There were animals with broken limbs, some limping, some lay dying - it was absolute carnage."
He found a hen with a broken back, some with smashed hips, broken legs and others which had been struck with such force that their wings had been ripped off.
"Everything was slaughtered - whoever did this must have been in a frenzy just attacking any animal they saw.
"There was a baby goat which had a cut on his head. It was found in a greenhouse which had its windows smashed. It has also been pelted with eggs."
The attack has cost £3,000 in vet bills and losses.
A fellow allotment holder, who asked not to be identified, said: "It's a great shame as this allotment included special rare breeds of hens and ducks."
A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said: "We can confirm that four children - a 12-year-old girl, two 12-year-old boys and a 13-year-old boy - have been interviewed under police caution."
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