Gruesome dog attack kills goat

Lulu the goat in the Dannevirke Christmas parade.

Sharon Fairhurst's three goats were sociable animals, but in the early hours of last Friday, little Lulu was fatally mauled by a roaming dog.

The goats were tethered close to their huts outside her Victoria Ave home, when Sharon was woken by her own dogs "nutting off" at 5am last Friday.

Going down the drive, she was distressed to find Lulu had been attacked by a pit bull-cross dog, which was accompanied by a staffie.

"Lulu was really friendly and loved playing with dogs, but how she died was just terrible," Sharon said.

"Her whole face was ripped off. It was brutal, she was such a mess.

"The pit bull was standing over her, growling and protecting its kill, while the staffie with it was standing aside. It appeared very friendly."

Sharon's partner delivered the two dogs, which both had tags, to the Dannevirke pound and although Lulu's death was gruesome, Sharon was not angry at the dogs.

"I feel sorry for them. This is the fault of the owners who let their dogs roam.

"Both dogs seemed to be well looked after, but their owners let them down by letting them escape."

The dogs hadn't quite finished off Lulu and she had to be put down by Sharon's partner after he returned from the pound.

Sharon believes the dogs were roaming for some time because there had been a commotion in Victoria Aven about 4am involving dogs barking in the street.

"I now need to build a little shed where I can lock my goats at night. I think the wandering-dog problem in Dannevirke is bigger than people realise," she said.

Tararua District Council's animal-control officers said they were unable to comment.