A man who was attacked by three dogs in Kaihu is racked with guilt he didn’t do more to report the incident before this week’s fatal mauling.
Mihiata Te Rore, 62, was found dead at a house on State Highway 12 on Tuesday morning.
She had been visiting someone she knew at the address when three dogs, living at the property, attacked her. Police said she suffered fatal injuries.
Detective Senior Sergeant Shane Pilmer, of Whangārei CIB, confirmed the three dogs were with animal management.
The small town of Kaihu is about 30km north of Dargaville.
Aucklander Brandon Tai said he was left terrified and bruised after a dog attack in Kaihu, which he believed happened near the site of the fatal attack. It is not confirmed if the same dogs were involved.
Tai went camping in Kaihu on Auckland Anniversary weekend, with his holiday including visiting Kai Iwi Lakes and nearby bush.
He was going for a run on State Highway 12 when he was chased by three aggressive dogs, described as brown pit bull or bulldog-type breeds, with one biting him on the calf.
“The three brown dogs all looked the same and they were super aggressive.”
He tried to calmly walk away from the dogs but said when he turned around, they tried to chase him again.
“I haven’t been really scared for a long time as an adult but that was terrifying.”
Tai was alone on the road, with no cars driving by at the time.
After walking about 100m from the property, the three dogs stopped chasing him and he was able to walk back to his campsite.
Tai got his bite seen to at Dargaville Hospital and Medical Centre, receiving a tetanus shot and antibiotics.
The bite was not serious enough to need stitches but is still bruised, he said.
Tai had planned to report the dogs to Kaipara District Council and felt guilty hearing of a fatal attack in the same area.
“I feel super-bad for the people involved; it’s terrible.”
An unnamed Kaihu resident said they had complained to Kaipara District Council about uncontrolled dogs at least four times in the past year.
The dogs often ran out on to the road, chasing cars and bicycles, but the council had not acted on complaints, the resident said.
Act leader David Seymour, who is also Regulations Minister and Justice Associate Minister, said more needs to be done to control aggressive dogs.
“I accept it’s a problem and we need to figure out how to better address it,” he told Ryan Bridge TODAY.
“It’s a question of do animal control have the resources and also the legal power to lock up these aggressive dogs, and are the police dealing with the owners [as required]?
“It’s difficult to think of more awful things that could happen – I feel for the woman’s family and her."
Seymour said New Zealand’s streets being safe to walk on was a fundamental right.
Green Party leader Marama Davidson agreed there needed to be a review of dog control laws but she criticised the coalition Government for “starving” local government of funding.
Local Government Minister Simon Watts said the Department of Internal Affairs was continuing work on several approaches to support better dog control, including improving the quality and consistency of national dog-related data.
“The department is also working with the local government sector to refresh and improve dog-control enforcement guidelines.”
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters believes owners of dogs that commit fatal attacks should be charged with manslaughter, claiming they are “facilitating murder”.
Police wanted to hear from anyone in Kaihu who has had issues with dogs roaming. People can call 105, using the reference number 260217/8328.
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.