A POLICE probe into a savage killing spree at a popular Inverclyde petting zoo resulted in the arrest of a suspect more than a year ago — but prosecutors have not brought the case to court. Children were left distraught after six friendly animals at Gourock’s Pets’ Corner were brutally slaughtered using a golf club and a large dog, while a further 12 creatures went missing and two needed urgent medical treatment.

The frenzied onslaught — reported by the Telegraph in June 2011 — was described by experienced local vet Neil McIntosh as ‘beyond comprehension’.

Determined detectives relentlessly investigated the crime and arrested an 18-year-old Gourock man in April last year, we can now reveal.

However, a report sent to prosecutors has not been acted upon and criminal proceedings have never been brought forward.

A police source told the Telegraph: “Officers got a DNA hit and the suspect, an 18-year-old male from Gourock, was arrested and reported to the procurator fiscal.

“It looks as though the fiscal’s office has chosen not to advance any proceedings.

“It hasn’t been taken on, so to speak, and there have been no requests made for statements.” The Telegraph was alerted to the current situation after a concerned reader sent us an anonymous letter.

Stunned staff had turned up at Pets’ Corner the morning after the 2011 rampage to find a trail of devastation, with dead and dying animals strewn over the ground.

Four guinea pigs, named Winston, Meg, Bonnie and Clyde had been crushed to death in the jaws of the dog, whom vet Mr McIntosh said must have been ‘large and powerful’.

A rabbit named Madeleine had to be put to sleep after suffering a broken jaw, shoulder and leg — injuries believed to have been inflicted with the golf club which was left lying nearby.

A duck named Sally suffered more than 20 ferocious bite wounds all over her body, but was miraculously expected to live after being treated by the dedicated staff of Greenock’s Abbey Vets.

At the time, outraged Gourock councillor Ronnie Ahlfeld branded those responsible for the carnage ‘the absolute scum of the earth’.

The Crown Office today declined to comment on the case when contacted by the Telegraph.

A spokesman for the prosecuting authority said: “I am afraid that in terms of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is not permitted to give information on closed or historic cases.”