New Zealand: Animal-loving boy 'embarrassed' to be seen after Pit Bull attack leaves scars

NEW ZEALAND -- On Sunday afternoon an Auckland boy bent down to pat a dog whose owner assured him was friendly.

A moment later, seven-year-old Hunter Baldwin's cheek had been ripped open and the side of his mouth torn, said his father Damion Baldwin.

The family had been fishing at Stillwater Beach, north Auckland, when Hunter asked his parents if he could pet the brindle colored Pit Bull mix.

"We told him not to, but the owner was talking over us — insisting that the dog 'was fine', that she loves children and had grown up around kids," said Baldwin.

Looking away for one moment, she heard the dog growl and then a child scream.


"I turned around after hearing a growl to see my son holding his face screaming."

He said the dog's owner "kind of just [ran off]" without apology or handing over his contact details. Baldwin said he felt the owner should come forward and face up to his dog's actions.

Hunter was taken first to Starship Hospital, then Middlemore to have his wounds stitched up.

"He's embarrassed to be seen now, with huge scars on his face and mouth," said Baldwin.

"He's pretty shaken up and we don't know how he'll be around dogs now — which is really sad, as he's such an animal lover ... Hopefully he'll just be a bit more wary."

Animal Control were called to the beach after the attack, and took statements from Hunter and his parents.

Baldwin said he and Hunter's mother hoped their story would make other parents more cautious with their children around dogs.

(Stuff NZ - January 8 2018)

New Zealand: Pit Bull / American Bulldog mix rushs over to park playground and mauls little girl

NEW ZEALAND -- A 6-year-old girl had to undergo plastic surgery after a dog attacked her at a Canterbury park.

The girl is recovering at home following the incident at Rangiora's Good Street Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

Francesca Laffey said daughter, Chloe, was "definitely a tough little thing, a wee battler".

Chloe was at the park with her grandmother when a dog attacked her.

"She was playing on the flying fox when the dog jumped up and bit her," her mother said.

The dog's owners were at the park when the incident happened.

Chloe had to undergo an hour-long surgery for the wound on her chest and was left with several stitches.

Francesca Laffey said it was too soon to know what effect the incident would have on her daughter's confidence around dogs.

"There will probably be some effects I'm sure, but as I say she is a tough wee thing so hopefully she bounces back and doesn't let it affect her too much."

Waimakariri District Council spokesman Matt McIlraith said the dog, an American Bulldog / Pit Bull mix, was euthanized on Monday night.

Laffey said that was a relief to her and the family.

"We are animal lovers, but if a dog is capable of doing something like this then there is always the chance it could do it again and I would hate for another family to go through this."

Laffey said Chloe had asked her questions about the attack, including why it happened.

"She has told me she wished she had never gone to the park.

"We've just told her it wasn't her fault at all and that she should never have to worry about going to the park and playing."

Laffey urged dog owners to keep their animals off playgrounds.

"You would hope that dogs would not be off leads and on children's playgrounds; there is too much opportunity for them to get over-excited and things can happen.

"I would also urge parents who are concerned about dogs in playgrounds to have the courage to approach the owners and tell them."

McIlraith said the council implored dog owners to look after their pets in public spaces and keep them under control.

"This is particularly relevant with summer on us as pets and their owners are out in force in public places around the district, making the most of the great weather."

Chloe would be off school for a while, but was "still perky", her mother said. "I've had to remind her not do things and take it easy."

The council was still investigating the attack and was yet to decide whether it would prosecute the dog's owners.

(Stuff NZ - November 29 2017)

(October 2017) New Zealand: "Our beautiful dog Girl was attacked by a pit bull and the bite managed to fracture her bone"

NEW ZEALAND -- Old Coach Oasis Glamping added 3 new photos to Facebook.
October 26 at 7:11pm ·

Our beautiful dog Girl was attacked by a pit bull and the bite managed to fracture her bone. 6 weeks of bandages, splints and staying dry. Just time to heal and get rid of any infection and fingers crossed no surgery will be needed. We are hoping each day she will improve and be back to her happy self.

New Zealand: Owner whose Dachshund mauled by American bulldog furious they gave the dog back to its owner - and says the council is lying when they claim he said he didn't want the Bulldog put down

NEW ZEALAND -- A dog owner whose prized pooch was attacked and seriously injured by an American bulldog is furious at the Far North District Council over its decision not to lay charges.

Greg Fisher of Auckland was holidaying at Cable Bay on Easter Saturday when his 2-year-old dachshund Bruno was attacked on a road by another dog which ran out of an unfenced property.

Bruno suffered a crushed shoulder blade and was rushed to a veterinary clinic in Kaitaia where he was stabilised. The council was contacted and the American bulldog was seized.

Fisher's lawyer Baden Meyer said the offending dog's owner, who lived next door to the Fishers' holiday home, had to punch and kick HIS OWN DOG to make it let go of Bruno.

Meyer said the dog's owner apologised to Mr Fisher's mother-in-law who was walking Bruno and said he would pay all vet bills.

On May 18, Fisher received a call from the council's dog ranger Mark King who said the American bulldog would be released back to its owner.

Fisher said he was told by council lawyer George Swanepoel the next day an independent board of three people assessed the incident and it was decided the attack did not warrant a prosecution.

"There's a public safety issue here. I had my three children present that day and they could have been attacked as well. The council has not seen the seriousness of what happened,'' he said.

"I think they have just taken the attitude of ignoring the issue in the hope it will go away. Instead of getting a proper feedback on why the threshold for prosecution was not met, I had to keep ringing and sending emails for answers."

After spending nearly $2000 in vet bills and other expenses and another $2000 in legal fees, Fisher said he could not afford a private prosecution. He was paid $1030 in vet bills by the owner of the other dog but said other expenses such as physiotherapy and time off work have still not been settled.

Council's compliance manager Darren Edwards said the dog owner was issued with a $200 infringement notice and a dog control notice.

Animal control staff undertook a thorough and impartial investigation, he CLAIMS.

COUNCIL LYING ABOUT WHAT THE VICTIM SAID:

Edwards said the decision not to prosecute was made after Mr Fisher indicated he neither wanted that course of action nor the offending dog destroyed.

But Fisher denied making those indications.

(NZ Herald - August 6, 2017)

New Zealand: Dogs attack miniature horses, said to be "hanging off his face". Hmm, what kinds of dogs like to do that when they're attacking and killing livestock??

NEW ZEALAND -- When a screaming horse roused Sarah Ogle she rushed outside only to discover three of her miniature horses covered in blood and dog bites.

Although she never saw them, two wandering dogs had attacked the horses in their pens shortly before dawn on July 1. The dogs have not yet been found.

On Monday, the baby of the trio, Kit, was put down because of an infection from his injuries.

Yearling Kit collapsed on Monday as an infection 

took hold. He was later euthanized.

Ogle, who lives with her family on a farm at Normanby, said the same dogs are believed to have killed two sheep on a neighboring property and attacked a blind dog at another address that same night. She now feels under siege and fears they will come back.

"My kids won't go out, they normally go out right on dark to bring in the wood and they won't they have to do it in daylight, and they usually pushbike over the farm but they won't do that either.

"Even me, I'm in and out of the stables all the time in the dark if I hear a noise. I'm always out there. I went out there in the dark and it was flippin' scary.

"If those dogs are out there, what am I going to do? I went and bought a big heavy torch and I'm carrying my pocket knife."

Ogle's sister's children next door were also afraid to leave their property, she said.

Since the attack she had added extra mesh and doors to the stables to keep her eight horses secure.

The injured horses were recovering well, but Ogle is anxious for the dogs to be caught in case they attack again.

The dogs would have arrived home covered in blood from their killing spree.

"Someone must know where they are."

She said her nightmare began when her pregnant mare, Mia, woke her up "screaming blue murder."

"I ran to the window. It  was pitch black and all I could see was a horse in the paddock where it's not supposed to be."

She ran to the stables where she found Kit weaving on his feet. "I grabbed him, he was covered in blood. We bundled him into a stable and wrapped a towel around him."

As she tried to stop the young horse's bleeding and waited for the vet, her son moved the other horses into another pen.

The vet arrived and Kit underwent emergency surgery.

"They had been hanging off his face, we had to hold his face together, he was losing a lot of blood.

"They took a big chunk out of his chest between his legs and pretty much gouged out the top of one of his legs and he had punctures pretty much everywhere. We were working on his worst ones and as we'd clip around them, you'd keep finding more holes."

Dark Hunter, Ogle's show horse, had a split on his chin and lacerations on his face and legs. Paris, who is in foal, had deep wounds inside both front legs.

"The vet said it looks like they've clamped on, one either side, and hung on to the front of her legs. She refused to walk for a few days."

WHAT KINDS OF DOGS LIKE TO GRIP AND HANG FROM VICTIMS' FACES?

Mia, the matriarch, was covered in blood but uninjured. Ogle thinks she was attacking the dogs to protect her herd.

Ogle's sister, Joanne White, said she had been woken about 3.15am by snarls and howls from her backyard as two strange dogs tried to attack her dog through the fence around his kennel.

"It sounded like wolves fighting, like they were killing each other."

White's husband yelled out the window and the dogs, a big tan animal and a slightly smaller black one, fled.

Although they didn't hear any more noise, the dogs had gone next door and killed two sheep.

Later, they returned to the pens where Ogle's horses were stabled.

She said she had received help from the the miniature horse community to pay her vet bills.

South Taranaki District Council regulatory service manager Doug Scott said the council was keen to find the dogs responsible.

"Our main concern is to stop this happening again, get these dogs off the street. We're very keen to work with any person who knows where they are," he said.

"When the owner yelled and the dogs ran away, that tells me they're unlikely to attack a person, but it's really hard to say and I wouldn't trust them."

The council was currently prosecuting a dog owner over a different incident where some cattle were attacked, he said. The dogs involved in that attack were shot by the farmer.

(Stuff NZ - July 8, 2017)

New Zealand: Dogs locked in a cage are dropped on the doorstep of an animal shelter by 'gutless backyard breeders'

NEW ZEALAND -- Animal welfare workers have slammed the 'gutless' dog owner who dumped three feces-covered canines at their doorstop.

The terrier-crosses were locked in a cage in a 'horrendous' condition outside the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' Manawatu office in New Zealand.

  

 

Centre manager Katie Pedersen told Stuff NZ she was overcome with a ghastly smell when she discovered the dogs on Tuesday morning.

'There was no note, no call. There wasn't even a little water left for them. You'd think that would be the least you could do,' she said.

Manawatu SPCA general manager Danny Auger labelled the owners 'gutless' and said the dogs were clearly in pain.

'They were severely matted - and we're talking years of mats rather than weeks or months - to the point where the mats would be causing the dogs a lot of pain,' he said.

Mr Auger said he believed the dogs had been used in a 'backyard breeding' situation.

The matted fur on their hindquarters was full of caked feces and they explained that urine collects in the matted, feces-crusted fur. This creates more problems with moisture and infection with insects and open sores under the matted fur. Additionally, the animals are in constant pain from matted fur pulling itself out of their skin.

Anyone who remembers their mother trying to brush out knots or a piece of gum that got stuck in their hair when they were a child will recall how painful it was to remove them. 

'Their teeth were in an extremely bad state - two of them had overshot jaws. This is often a sign of poor breeding or inter-breeding.

'It's something we have seen in the past when it comes to the backyard breeder-type situation.'

Auger urged anyone with information to contact the Palmerston North SPCA.

(Daily Mail - April 11, 2017)

Australia / New Zealand: 'I saw a bloodied crate and my dog soaked in blood': Pet transport company slammed after bulldog DIES and golden retriever tears toenails off in horrifying flights

AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND -- An animal transportation company is under fire after one dog died and another ripped its own toenails out during flights.

Jetpets prides itself on transporting pets 'safely and comfortably' on its website, but devastated pet owner Anne Rewai said she was shattered to learn her beloved bulldog, Nui, died during a flight from Western Australia to New Zealand on Friday.

'I am deeply distraught & utterly disappointed in the way Melbourne office have handled this whole affair,' she wrote on the Jetpets Facebook page – which has since been removed.

Jetpets spokeswoman Janine Janides told Daily Mail Australia that initial findings indicate Nui passed from natural causes and the final post mortem results will be available in coming days.

'Jetpets feel the pain at the loss and commiserate with the family,' said Ms Janides in a statement.

A second incident involving a golden retriever named Calvin was shared on Facebook after the dog was transported from Melbourne to Brisbane on Friday.

'I got a call from Jetpets yesterday when I was on my way to the airport. They said Calvin became agitated during the flight, lost a few toenails and a lot of blood. I expected the worst when I reached Qantas freight. What I saw was a bloodied crate, my dog stressed out and soaked in blood.

 

 

'It was meant to be a day of great joy. After I spent a fortune to bring him over, finally I would get to meet him. It was the day I had been dreaming about, but it turned out to be a day I cried my eyes out. I can't imagine the amount of pain Calvin went through,' wrote Arjun Sivadasan.

Ms Janides said Calvin appeared comfortable and relaxed prior to boarding the flight, but upon his arrival Jetpet was notified of his injuries and contacted Calvin's owners 'straight away'.

Calvin's owner Mr Sivadasan disputes this and told The West Australian that it took 48 hours for Jetpets to check on Calvin after the flight.

 

He said Jetpets told him the company 'was not fully functional on weekends' so there was no company representative available to check on Calvin following the flight.

'If they are flying pets on weekends they have to take full responsibility…What ticks me off is they're not looking to find out what went wrong and accept accountability,' said Mr Sivadasan.

He said Calvin has traveled extensively with him around the world with other pet transport company's who provide regular updates and would give Calvin exercise before a flight to ensure he was calm.

Jetpets spokeswoman Ms Janides said in a statement that the company takes pride in the service it provides and they do their 'utmost to provide a positive experience for both the travelling pet and its owner'.

'Of course are very upset that this was not the case for Calvin and his owners.'

(Daily Mail - Feb 1, 2016)

New Zealand: Trainee bomb detector puppy shot dead at airport because they were tired of chasing it

NEW ZEALAND -- New Zealand police have shot dead a trainee bomb detector puppy that was running amok at Auckland Airport Friday, drawing condemnation from animal rights activists.

The ten-month-old bearded collie mix named Grizz was training to be an Aviation Security Explosion Detector when he escaped handlers who spent hours trying to coax him away from the runway.

Sixteen flights were delayed before airport staff told police to shoot him -- Grizz was just six months from graduation.

SAFE for Animals Ambassador Hans Kriek condemned the killing, asking why the animal wasn't tranquilized, but a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said he "didn't believe" that had been an option.

Auckland Airport originally announced on their official Twitter they had captured the dog, before revealing an hour later that he had been killed.

Grizz escaped from his handler at around 4.30 a.m. local time and ran out onto the tarmac at Auckland Airport, according to the CAA spokesman.

"He was on an initial airport environment socialization program as part of his training ... The airport Emergency Operations Center was activated and a full search was commenced," he said in a statement.

But the spokesman said it was too dark and the area too large to quickly find and contain the puppy.

"We tried everything, food, toys, other dogs, but nothing would work ... In these difficult circumstances the Airport's Emergency Operations Center team decided to have the dog destroyed," he said.

The spokesman said there would be a review into the incident.

The phrase "Auckland Airport" was trending on New Zealand Twitter on Friday, with many users venting their fury at the airport's authorities.

"Embarrassed to be a kiwi today," one poster wrote. "Killing a dog so flights can continue (at) Auckland Airport. No excuse! Disgusting."

Kriek said he believed it was the wrong decision to shoot Grizz, saying given staff were chasing Grizz for three hours there was time to get a tranquilizer gun.

"Ultimately they have to call the police in to shoot the dog, and the police have access to tranquilizer guns, and there's also a zoo nearby that would have one as well. So we don't understand why they didn't do that," he said.

The Authority spokesman said the question of a tranquilizer gun would be reviewed.

(Fox61 - March 17, 2017)

New Zealand: Dog feces on the floor, upended furniture and rubbish everywhere: Inside the squalid home of an animal hoarder found hiding in a corner as authorities came to take away her emaciated dogs

NEW ZEALAND -- A New Zealand animal hoarder who [is currently on probation and] has been banned from owning animals for five years was found this week hiding in small room with two very thin dogs.

Police officers and SPCA were forced to break into the unnamed woman's home after she refused to open the door and discovered her hovering in the corner of an unkempt home overflowing with piles of belongings, newspapers and animal waste, according to Seven Sharp.

  

 

Two dogs, who weigh half their normal body weight, were found cowering next to the woman and unusually didn't make a sound they were removed from the home by the SPCA.

Video footage shows the woman become angry as police step in-between her and the two leashed dogs.

PROBATION VIOLATION AFTER PREVIOUS ANIMAL CRUELTY CHARGE

Police allege the woman started collecting dogs just one year after she was prosecuted for hoarding the animals.

 

The woman was disqualified from owning pets, but SPCA's Greg Reid told Seven Sharp that does not stop most animal hoarders from collecting more – and the problem is on the rise.

'For us it's almost like the analogy of an alcoholic. You wouldn't say to an alcoholic, 'you're an alcoholic, you have to stop drinking, you can only have one drink a day.' Because you know they're not going to do it,' Mr Reid said.

Last year an animal abuser was ordered by the court to undergo counselling in an unprecedented move.

Mr Reid said he hopes there will be a bigger emphasis on mental health and counselling for animal hoarders.

'We would really like to see far more compulsory mental health assessments and compulsory treatment orders as part of sentence as part of an animal abuse case. That would be great,' he said.

Mr Reid said the woman will face charges again.

 

'The challenge we have at the moment is the legislation prevents us from automatically forfeiting those animals and being able to re- home them. We still have to go back to court,' Mr Reid said.

The two rescued dogs now live at the SPCA Village and were seen running around and cuddling with staff.

(Daily Mail - Feb 9, 2017)

New Zealand: Man attacked by a Pit bull in Orange Grove

NEW ZEALAND -- According to Longhow, he was walking on the opposite side of the road when a man opened a garage gate and a pit bull rushed out at him, barking.

“I picked up my two little dogs and then this big pit bull started attacking me. It grabbed my ankle first, then grabbed my calf muscle. I kicked the dog but it continued and grabbed my other leg,” claimed Longhow.

“I shouted to the man opening the garage, ‘your dog is attacking me’, and he did not do anything, but afterwards he said he did not hear me,” he said.

Longhow said he was concerned that the dog might attack someone else and he has not taken his dogs for a walk since that day because he is scared.

“I am concerned that another attack would happen and if it was someone smaller or a teenager, the dog would have brought him down,” he said.

 

 

 

The owner of the dog was not available to speak on this matter.

Norwood Police were unavailable to comment on this incident but Longhow confirmed that he did open a case with the police and he is planning to take the dog owner to court.

 

 

Longhow also claimed that he has not heard from the dog owner since that day and now he has a bill of R1 032.33 still due to be settled at Netcare Linksfield Hospital.

When North Eastern Tribune visited the house where Longhow claims the dog came from, no one was available for comment.

(Northeastern Tribune - Jan 21, 2017)