Thugs spear puppy with wooden stake

Police are hunting a gang of youths who speared a puppy with a wooden stake on the Gold Coast.

The seven-month old cattle dog, named Tex, was attacked after he barked at the five youths who had just bashed a taxi driver and damaged a service station.

The men, aged between 17 and 22, were walking down Tallebudgera Creek Road at 3am on Sunday when they spotted the dog and threw a wooden post at him.

The dog's owner, Mark Nicholas, woke up when he heard the barking outside.

"I saw him through the blinds ... all I could see was the bloke throwing it (the wooden stake) at him," Mr Nicholas said.

The stake took a large chunk out of Tex's neck, and the veterinary bills following the incident have topped $1000.

"It separated all the muscles and the bone," Mr Nicholas said.

"He had drains in his back for the blood — they've just taken them out."

The attack followed a late-night crime spree by the gang of men, which began when they arrived at Tallebudgera Creek Road petrol station in a taxi.

Police said the men kicked the cab after leaving before one of them jumped onto the bonnet of the vehicle.

Another man punched and spat on the cabbie, who suffered minor facial injuries in the incident.

Afterwards the men kicked the glass doors of the service station and sprayed a fire extinguisher through its window &151; causing extensive damage to the store.

The men are described as Caucasian, aged between 17 and 22 and of a slim build.

Police have release two CCTV images of two suspects in the case.

Anyone with information which could assist police is urged to contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au.

omg that poor puppy i hope they catch those animals

i think it is very sad and cruel. No animal should be speared or anything else for that matter, they do no wrong. Oh and not to mention the poor taxi driver, what did he do wrong and i hope he is ok.

Seriously, who raises people like that? werent they given some rules of decency - i know cabbies can be annoying, but i dont think anyone deserves that and the dog was only trying to do the right thing from the sounds of it. Glad the owner got him to the vets on time, hope they catch the people involved.

yeh i saw it on the news too. The cabby said they werent drunk just seemed out to cause trouble. The vidio footage isnt pretty either. I also feel for the servo owner. I hope they get caught and are punished for what they have done

i hope they did catch them, that sort of attacking with no provocation isnt right.