Awatea feeding Buster, her favourite ram before he was killed by a dog. Photo / Supplied
Awatea feeding Buster, her favourite ram before he was killed by a dog. Photo / Supplied
"Please help my daughter change the law." John Maxwell Moeke is on a mission to help his daughter Awatea Moeke, 9, change the laws surrounding dog control after a dog brutally mauled Awatea's pet ram to death.
The attack prompted her to start a petition 'AWATEA L.O.S.S' last weekasking for a change in the enforcement of law, accurate communication around accountability, and health and safety about how many animal control officers attend callouts.The petition now has 1000 signatures.
Awatea and Moeke believe all owners of dogs who have attacked sheep should be prosecuted and fined.
They would also like councils around New Zealand to apologise to affected sheep owners because the current laws allow dogs to roam free.
"We want harsher penalties as if you had a car accident. If you are in the wrong, you should pay.
"Currently there is severity scale which the council follows and it means if the harm done is not serious enough then the dog is allowed to roam free."
Awatea feeding Buster, her favourite ram before he was killed by a dog. Photo / Supplied
Awatea and her family live in Waimarama and she lost her pet ram Buster to a dog attack in May.
He is buried in a paddock next to their house and Awatea hand-painted the tomb of stones where Buster now lies.
Buster was apart of the Moeke family, which also includes a rescued chicken, a fox terrier and a one-eyed cat.
"This [dog attacks] impacts the grassroots of farming, our children," Moeke said.
"Farmers have been trying to change the law for so long and nothing has been done about it. But now my daughter has been impacted and she wants to see change happen.
"For Awatea, May 14 was the beginning. Two white pitbull terrier dogs were witnessed by a school worker on our property, which is next to the school. "
What followed was the death of their pet ram along with three other sheep. The dogs responsible could not be found. "In the next few days, they killed our neighbour's two sheep and one of another farmer.
"Sadly this story of dogs destroying sheep has been very common in Hawke's Bay over the past few months."
In July the Hastings District Council chargedthe owners of eight dogs who allegedly mauled more than 100 stockwith owning a dog or dogs that attacked stock and with failing to keep their dogs under control. Five of six, which included three men, and three women from Hastings, Havelock North and Clive, also faced a charge of failing to register their dog. The bloodshed began onJune 10 when 49 lambs were killed at the Hawke's Bay Equestrian Park. Stock owners Denise and Colin Davis lost about 125 lambs over June and July.
Some of the sheep were found dead. Others were so badly injured they had to be put down.
