NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Kahu

Survivor of massacre nearly loses life again

Alanah Eriksen
By Alanah Eriksen, Alanah May Eriksen
Managing Editor - Live News·NZ Herald·
26 Jul, 2010 04:00 PM7 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Rowan Hargreaves believes Chicken ate meat laced with slug bait. Photo / Natalie Slade

Rowan Hargreaves believes Chicken ate meat laced with slug bait. Photo / Natalie Slade

Each day this week we will be translating a news story into te reo. Today's is about a pup cheating death for the second time.

The owner of the only pup to survive a massacre of more than 30 dogs believes it has been the victim of a poisoning attempt.

In January, Chicken was only a few days old and sleeping in an old van with her mother, father and three siblings in Wellsford, north
of Auckland, when her parents - and more than 25 other dogs - were shot.

The other pups escaped the gunfire but later died because they were so young and without their mother.

Chicken was the only survivor.

The shootings, on Rowan Hargreaves' 5ha property, stemmed from an argument between the mechanic and his neighbour Russell Mendoza.

Mendoza believed Mr Hargreaves' dogs had mauled and killed his fox terrier Otis.

He and another man, Tony Campbell, allegedly used a shotgun and a .22 calibre rifle on the animals. They both face animal cruelty charges.

This week, Mr Hargreaves has laid a complaint with the police after noticing Chicken and two other dogs he has been given drooling and unable to stand up on Sunday morning.

The trio had walked to the top of his long driveway, where Mr Hargreaves believes pieces of meat with slug bait in them had been thrown over a fence.

He said that when they came back down the driveway, they started "acting funny" and he rushed them to the Wellsford Vet Clinic.

Vets there told him the dogs' symptoms were consistent with poisoning.

"They were all wobbly. It was like they were drunk or something," Mr Hargreaves said. "They were not themselves, not my dogs."

The animals were given medicine to clean out their livers and sent home, where yesterday they appeared to have recovered.

"They were fit and healthy dogs to start with and it was low-grade poison.

"Luckily we caught it soon but I'm just keeping an eye on them because you never know."

The vet yesterday refused to comment on the incident.

Mr Hargreaves said he did not lay any kind of bait around his home because the "dogs take care of the rats", and there was no way they could have escaped from his property to eat it elsewhere.

He spoke to his neighbour, a farmer who was up early for milking, when he came back from the vet. The neighbour said he had seen the tail-lights of a car driving away from the Hargreaves property about 4.20am.

The feud has divided Wellsford, and Mr Hargreaves and his colleague Richard Hawkings, who witnessed the shootings, have received death threats.

Mendoza and Campbell are charged with wilful ill-treatment of an animal, and other charges of ill-treatment of an animal laid by the SPCA, which said seven of the dogs died a slow and painful death.

They also face charges of reckless use of a firearm, an offence which carries penalties of up to three years in prison, a $4000 fine or both.

Mendoza faces a charge of possession of a firearm without a licence, for which the maximum penalty is three months' imprisonment, a $1000 fine or both.

The pair are defending the charges and are due in the Auckland District Court in September.

TE REO VERSION

Kua paihanatia te morehu o nga punua kuri i patua katoatia i tetahi pamu, me etahi atu kuri e rua, e ai ki nga whakapae a to ratou rangatira.

He kuao katahi ano ka whanau mai ki te ao a Chicken, i te puhinga o ona matua me etahi atu kuri, neke atu i te 25 pea. I te moe ia i tetahi wakaroa tawhito i te taha o tona matua, o tona whaereere me ona teina tuakana i Wellsford, i te raki o Tamaki-makau-rau i taua wa. E whitu marama te pakeke ka mate nei.

I oraiti ona teina, tuakana i te puhinga o te pu engari no muri mai ka mate, na te ahua tamariki rawa, kaore hoki he whaea.

Ko nga puhinga i te 25 o Hanuere, i te pamu e 5 heketea te nui o Rowan Hargreave i tetahi parua keringa whenua tawhito, i takea mai i tetahi tautohe i waenga i te kairaweke motoka me tana hoa noho tata a Russell Mendoza.

E ai ki a Mendoza na nga kuri a Hargreaves i ngangau, i whakamate hoki tana kuri pokiha a Otis.

Na raua ko tetahi atu tangata na Tony Campbell i whakamahi te pu hota, e ai ki nga korero, me tetahi raiwhara 22 mo nga karerehe, a, kua whakapaetia raua tahi mo te tukino i te kararehe.

Na Hargreaves i tapae tana whakahe ki nga pirihimana i muri i te kitenga i a Chicken e whakahaware ana te waha, e hurorirori ana, me etahi atu kuri e rua e pera ana ano hoki, mai i te Ra Tapu.

I hikoi atu aua kuri e toru ki runga rawa o te ara heke mai ki tona whare, a, e ai ki a Hargreaves i makaia he miti, he mea paihana ki te 'maunu putoko' ma runga i te taiapa.

No te hokinga mai ka "ahua rereke" te tu o aua kuri, kawea ana e ia ki Wellsford Vet Clinic, a, na te Clinic i ki ki a ia te ahua nei kua oti nga kuri te paihana.

"Kua turingongengonge katoa, me te mea nui e haurangi ana, e hurori noa ana. Kaore i kitea te ahua e mohio ana au, o aku kuri."

Ka hoatu he rongoa hei horoi atu i nga ate, tukua ana nga kuri kia hoki ki te kainga, a, te ahua nei kua ora mai ano.

"He kuri hauora, he kuri pai katoa te hanga i te timatanga, he paihana ahua ngoikore noa iho hoki. He waimarie ta matou haukoti i te mahi nanakia nei, engari kei konei au e tirotiro ana, kei hoki mai ano te mate."

Kaore te takuta kararehe i whakaae ki te whakaputa korero inanahi.

E ai ki a Hargreaves kihai ia i whakatakoto maunu huri noa i tana kainga na te mea "ko nga kuri tonu ki te kai i nga kiore o konei" a, kaore kau he putanga i nga taiepa hei omanga ma nga kuri ki waho atu i te pamu, ki te kai i te paihana o wahi ke.

I korero ia ki tona hoa noho tata, tetahi kaimahi pamu kua oho i te atapo ki te kutete kau, i tana hokinga mai i te takuta kararehe. Ko te korero a te tangata nei ki a ia, kua kitea e ia nga raiti o muri o tetahi waka, heke atu i tana pamu, i te takiwa o te 4.20 i te ata.

Tenei te taone katoa te noho tauwehe i te tautohe nei, a, kua tae mai nga whakatumatuma mo te mate rawa ki a Hargreaves raua ko tana hoa a Richard Hawkings.

I kitea e Hawkings te puhinga o nga kuri.

Kua oti a Mendoza raua ko Campbell te whakapae mo te whakawhiu kino i te kararehe, me etahi atu whakapae mo te whakawhiu i te kararere na te SPCA, i raro i te Ture mo te Hauora o Te Kararehe, e whakapae ana he roa ano te whakamatemate o aua kararehe, me te mamae kino ano.

Kei mua tonu hoki i a raua etahi whakapae mo te whakamahi heahea i te pu, ko te whiu mo taua hara ka piki ki te toru tau i te whare herehere, he whaina mo te $4,000, nga mea e rua ranei. Kei mua i a Mendoza te whakapae mo te pupuri i te raihana me te kore e whai raihana.

Ko te katoa o te whakawhiu mo tera he toru marama i te whare herehere, he whaina mo te $1,000, nga mea e rua ranei.

Kei te karo te tokorua nei i nga whakapae, a, ko te ra i whakaritea kia hoki ki te Koti Takiwa o Tamaki-makau-rau, hei te Hepetema.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Alleged dog shooters committed for trial

12 Jul 03:57 AM
Kahu

Karawhiua - Give it a go: te reo tips for the perfect hangi

25 Jul 04:00 PM
Kahu

Karawhiua - Give it a go: te reo tips for making bush kai modern

26 Jul 04:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Politics

Christopher Luxon raises Cook Islands impasse with Chinese Premier

20 Jun 10:02 PM
Premium
New Zealand

'It was my calling': Inside the Taupō farm taming wild horses

20 Jun 10:00 PM
Premium
Opinion

David Seymour: I was invited to Oxford but learned a sad thing about NZ

20 Jun 09:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Christopher Luxon raises Cook Islands impasse with Chinese Premier

Christopher Luxon raises Cook Islands impasse with Chinese Premier

20 Jun 10:02 PM

Luxon has now headed onward to Europe.

Premium
'It was my calling': Inside the Taupō farm taming wild horses

'It was my calling': Inside the Taupō farm taming wild horses

20 Jun 10:00 PM
Premium
David Seymour: I was invited to Oxford but learned a sad thing about NZ

David Seymour: I was invited to Oxford but learned a sad thing about NZ

20 Jun 09:00 PM
Three hospitalised after major house fire in Dunedin

Three hospitalised after major house fire in Dunedin

20 Jun 06:39 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP