A routine chat with a dog owner ended with a Whangarei animal control officer allegedly assaulted and his vehicle's tyres slashed.
It's an indication of how the workers faced abuse on the job from angry members of the public, their boss says, who has the workers wearing stab-proof vests while out and about.
Stab-proof vests to protect staff from angry people they deal with are "the best money I've ever spent", Environmental Northland manager Keith Thompson, the man enforcing the rules around dogs and noise in Whangarei and Kaipara, said.
One of his enforcement officers was shoved and threatened on Tuesday, before the alleged attacker slashed the tyre of the officer's vehicle with a sharp object.
Facing irate members of the public is all in a day's work for the staff, and this week the assaulted worker was on a routine job to "have a chat" about a problematic dog on Pataua South's Mahanga Rd, Mr Thompson said.
"The officer is OK, but shaken up," Mr Thompson said. "It was ridiculous because all we wanted to do was have a chat with them - there was no intention of uplifting [the dog]."
Following the midday attack, the officer drove his vehicle up the road on three tyres and phoned police, who arrived within 20 minutes and arrested a 47-year-old man. The man will appear in the Whangarei District Court on August 8 on charges of common assault, behaving threateningly and wilful damage.
Mr Thompson said his dog and noise control staff were assaulted "about once a month, if you included being pushed". More serious physical attacks happened once or twice a year, while staff were verbally abused "every week".
Three years ago, Mr Thompson bought nine $1500 stab-proof vests, which were worn by frontline dog and noise control staff. The vests helped staff feel more safe in situations like the one which unfolded on Tuesday where there were weapons present.
"It was the best $1500 I've ever spent," Mr Thompson said. The decision to buy the vests was partly fuelled by an increase in methamphetamine use in the community, which seemed to contribute to more aggressive partygoers encountered on noise-control jobs, he said.
Mr Thompson said attacks on ENL vehicles were also fairly common.
ENL has held the major bylaw enforcement contract for Whangarei and Kaipara district councils for 20 years. The company's tenure ends in September, after councillors awarded the contract to competitor Armourguard.