www.ntnews.com.au Saturday, December 21, 2013. NT NEWS. 7

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Lost utemysterysolvedBy ZACH HOPE

ALL’S well that ends well —especially in the curiouscase of the missing ute, flog-ged in broad daylight from aDarwin city street with theaid of a tow truck.

Dan Melbourne had ow-ned his broken-down andimmobile Ford Falcon XR8ute for just a month when henoticed it had mysteriouslydisappeared from out thefront of his unit on Smith Stlast week.

The vehicle had been mar-ked for removal the follow-ing day — but calls to coun-cil and the tow truckcompany revealed they werenot responsible for its re-moval. Mr Melbourne wasscratching his head while abloke named Shaun, whohad just acquired the ve-hicle, choked on his coffee ashe pored over the NT News

on Saturday.‘‘I read the story and I

thought, ‘well this has gonepear-shaped’,’’ Shaun, whoasked for his last name notto be published, said.

As it happens, the 46-year-old boiler-maker had se-cured the services of a towtruck to take the car, afterspotting the council’s warn-ing ticket, because hethought it was abandoned.

He told the NT News hehad planned to advertise thefact he had the ute and ifthere were no legitimate ta-kers he would fix it up.

‘‘I’d seen it sitting thereday after day, neglected,covered in bat sh*t,’’ he said.

‘‘I thought the owner hadgone away down south orgot into some strife and hadto leave. The only thing I’vestolen was a chocolate barwhen I was seven — at myage the last thing I need is anauto vehicle theft hangingover my head.’’

He said he spoke to policebefore hiring the tow truck,but got a ‘‘grey’’ response.He has been in contact withMr Melbourne, who didn’twant to press charges.

‘‘I’m glad I’ll have itback,’’ Mr Melbourne said.

‘‘It seems like he had inno-cent intentions.’’

Dr Stephen Cutter has given his chihuahua Pox a vaccination to prevent the current out-break of parvovirus, which is killing puppies. It’s the worst outbreak in the Darwin regionfor years and 95 per cent of cases for dogs are fatal Picture: DANIEL HARTLEY-ALLEN

Pup killerruns wildin DarwinBy ALISON BEVEGE

This is theworst I’ve

seen it

A PUPPY killer is stalkingthe Territory.

It’s called parvovirus andit’s deadly.

Right now vets in the Dar-win region are reporting theworst outbreak for years.

Ark Animal Hospital chiefveterinarian Stephen Cuttersaid there was a bit of an in-crease in cases every build-up as that is when many pup-pies are born.

‘‘But this is the worst I’veseen it,’’ he said. ‘‘Our iso-lation ward hasn’t beenempty for three months.’’

Dr Cutter said he usuallysaw one or two cases eachmonth but now he was get-ting two each day.

Most are euthanised as itcosts several thousand dol-lars to nurse the animalsback to health as they needround-the-clock care. Eventhen they often don’t survive.

Vaccination costs around$60 by comparison.

Australian Vet Associ-ation NT president Alex Bur-leigh said the disease kills 95per cent of dogs infected.

He described it as like can-ine ebola. The dogs die afteran agonising bout of bloodydiarrhoea and vomiting.

It is highly contagious asonce an infected dog letsloose outside the virus canremain in the soil for up toseven months.

A dog owner can thenwalk through the infectedarea and pick up the virus ontheir shoes, bringing it hometo their beloved pup.

‘‘It is a horrible disease,’’he said, urging owners tohave their pets vaccinated.

Safety message for boatiesBOATIES have been urgedto exercise caution on thewater over the holidays.

Minister for Transport,Peter Styles, said Territor-ians should be responsiblewhen in boats.

‘‘Over the Christmasperiod, I expect there will bea rise in those heading outon our waterways and with

the increase in numbers andboats, it’s important to stayvigilant at all times to en-sure your safety and that ofother boaties,’’ he said.

He urged all boaties tocheck they have themandated safety equipment,observe weather forecastsand to remember excess al-cohol and boating don’t mix.