Strangers save family pet from death row

Fury-James Takerei, 4, Teressa Kati and Lahtaezia-Lust Kati, 5, were reunited with their dog, Dante, who was rescued from death row at Napier pound thanks to generous strangers who paid his fees. Photo / Warren Buckland

A heartfelt Facebook post and the generosity of local people reunited a dog on death row with his loving family.

Napier woman Teressa Kati was desperate to save her "best friend" Dante, after receiving a phone call from Napier Pound saying he was destined to be put down on Monday.

"They called on Saturday saying if I couldn't come up with the money they would destroy him, so I posted a message on Facebook that Sunday asking if anyone would take him," she said.

As a single mum, who receives financial support for only one of her four children under five, Ms Kati was unable to pay registration and de-sexing fees, totalling $532.30.

In her Facebook message she described the 2-year-old red nose pitbull as an "absolute honey" with kids, who loved cuddles and made a great guard dog.

"His absolute favourite is piggybacks - yes, he loves to be piggy backed. He's classed as a menacing breed but he's a total sweetheart.

"He will protect you and your family - I know this is a long shot I'm just trying to save my buddy even if that's to rehome him.

"It's better knowing he's still around somewhere being his playful energetic self than knowing he's in a doggy ditch."

Ms Kati shared a special bond with Dante, having raised him since he was 3 weeks old and had to be fed by syringe.

"I got him from some people on Facebook who were going to throw the puppies away.

"I grabbed one, and they left him on my door step in a box - I used to put him in a sock on a hot water bottle, wrapped in a towel."

She asked anyone who might like to rehome the dog to send through their details - and the response was overwhelming.

Instead of offers to keep him, members of Boycott Online Garage Sale Hastings/Napier rallied around to raise money needed to return him to the family. They came up with a total of $145.

A mother and daughter, who wanted to be known only as Christine and Alicia, donated another $280 toward desexing costs as well as the remainder of his impound fees.

Another woman asked for Ms Kati's address and dropped off $300 worth of dog food, toys and groceries for the children.

"It's always difficult to feed everyone, we get by, but this has helped us out heaps," she said.

"I would greatly like to thank all who have supported me in bringing my boy home."