Roaming dogs thought to be responsible for killing chickens in Te Puna

Francois and Arlene Barbeau, of Te Puna, say 13 of their chickens were killed in one night last week. Photo / George Novak

Dozens of chickens are being killed in Te Puna and locals and the district council thinks a roaming pack of dogs is responsible.

State Highway 2 resident Sean Lett said he and his family had lost about 40 chickens in the past three months, and his neighbours Arlene and Francois Barbeau lost 13 in one night last week.

Mr Barbeau described the scene he encountered early on January 15 as a "massacre".

He feeds the chickens every morning and was on his way down from the house when he suddenly noticed it was "deadly quiet".

"They were just lying all over, dead. It was actually quite a painful sight."

Part of the "massacre" discovered by Francois Barbeau on the morning of January 15. Photo / Supplied

He said the chickens' free-range eggs were a small source of income for his and his wife's fruit and vege shop, Parklands Produce, and they now had to buy eggs in.

"I'm not going to replace these chickens until we know that the dogs have been taken care of," Mr Barbeau said.

"It's also quite tragic because two of them were my grandkids' pets and you could touch them and pet them, and they used to play with our dogs.

"And they had characters, I don't care what anyone tells me, a chicken has a character and they all had unique characters."

There were only about five chickens left now, he said. One chicken died three days after the attack and another was still alive but had a gouge out of her back.

Mrs Barbeau said the remaining chickens were so traumatised by the attack, they weren't coming for food when whistled in the morning anymore.

She said the dead chickens had to be burned because there were too many to bury.

"The smell was terrible."

The night after the Barbeaus' chickens were attacked, Sean Lett next door also had chickens killed.

Lett said it was the latest of several attacks over the past three months.

"We've lost all ours. We've lost about 40 chooks all up."

He said it was "carnage" and believed "100 per cent" that it was the same dogs.

"It's just part of living in the country, but people should keep an eye on their dogs and be responsible. My dog doesn't roam, because I've trained it to stay at home."

Lett's chickens, like the Barbeaus', were completely free range and not locked up.

"So they were easy targets," Lett said.

He said if he saw the dogs on his property again, they would be "dispatched".

"I've got no holds barred now."

The chickens had been looked after by his four sons over the years, who fed them and sold the eggs.

Lett said his sons were all "pissed off" and the one who looking after the chickens the most was "just livid".

"I think each one of those chooks cost us about $20."

The attacks were reported to the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.

This week, the council's compliance and monitoring manager, Alison Curtis, confirmed that it had been an ongoing issue "for some time".

"There is, we are assuming, a pack of dogs working the area and targeting chickens," she said.

The council's animal services team had put up several traps in the Snodgrass Rd/State Highway 2 area and further afield in an attempt to lure the dogs.

"This has not been successful. However the traps will remain in place," Curtis said.

"Four dogs have been seen on the loose and we have requested anyone who sees them to contact us immediately and, if possible, get a photo of them. We are unsure whether there may be other dogs as well."

Council staff were also patrolling Te Puna and the surrounding area daily and doing property visits to try to find the dogs.

"We are not advising people to try to catch the dogs or approach them – as we don't know if they would be aggressive if cornered," Curtis said.

She said if possible, people needed to keep their chickens locked up, but in some cases, the dogs had also managed to get into coops.