A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
In the past two weeks I have witnessed two incidences of dogs attacking young seals on Wainui Beach. The first was a small tan and white terrier attacking a seal pup resting on rocks at the beach opposite the Okitu Store. The owner ignored the incident for a while thenfinally attempted to get her dog off the pup. When another concerned bystander remonstrated with her, she was told “My dog didn’t do anything”. The dog owner quickly left the beach with her dog. No concern for the seal pup, it seems.
I alerted DoC to tell them about the now bleeding and clearly injured seal pup but by the time they arrived, the tide had carried it away.
On Wednesday afternoon I watched two large golden retrievers attack another seal pup, this time at the opposite end of Wainui Beach down towards the lighthouse. The owners were unaware of what their dogs were doing but eventually one dog was caught by the owner and leashed. The other lab retriever continued to harass the seal pup, which by then had managed to reach the safety of the water. Once again the owners showed little concern for the seal pup. I photographed the dogs and the owners and alerted DoC and GDC.
PLEASE dog owners, make sure your dog is under your full control while you have them on Wainui Beach.
A small dog was attacked on the beach by a larger Vizsla-type dog a few months ago too. So it’s not just the seal pups who are at risk. God forbid someone’s unruly, aggressive pet attacks a child!
The seal population has been through enough predation because of human activity and their numbers are finally on the rise again, which is brilliant. Seals have rested on Wainui Beach for thousands if not millions of years and they have more right to be there than we do. They really are Tangata Tiriti!
If entitled dog owners like the two I have highlighted here don’t show more responsibility, we might all lose the privilege of walking our dogs on Wainui Beach and that would be such a shame. Maybe we should muzzle our dogs on the beach.
